Thermal energy is sometimes mixed with heat energy, but they are indeed 2 different things. Thermal energy is the total amount of kinetic and potential energy possessed by the atoms or molecules of a substance. It can transfer between objects in a form of heat. Thermal energy can be gained or lose when 2 objects are trying to reach thermal equilibrium.
There are two ways we can calculate the thermal energy (Q), once uses heat capacity and one uses latent heat. The concepts of these two terms will be discussed in the later posts, for now we are just going to look at the formulas:
Q = m c T
Q = m (L)
C stands for heat capacity, and L stands for latent heat.
Something intrigued me from today's learning is that how people are developing technologies for using geothermal energy to heat water. It's been claimed that this method helps green-house gas reduction. Some questions I still have for this topic include how does geothermal energy continuously construct our planet? Why is thermal energy usually produced with other energy? How does a fossil power plant turn thermal energy into electrical energy?
