Monday, September 5, 2016

thermodynamics - How does temperature relate to the kinetic energy of molecules?


In ideal gas model, temperature is the measure of average kinetic energy of the gas molecules. If by some means the gas particles are accelerated to a very high speed in one direction, KE certainly increased, can we say the gas becomes hotter? Do we need to distinguish the random vibration KE and KE in one direction?


Furthermore, if we accelerate a block of metal with ultrasonic vibrator so that the metal is vibrating in very high speed with cyclic motion, can we say the metal is hot when it is moving but suddenly become much cooler when the vibration stop?



Answer




In ideal gas model, temperature is the measure of average kinetic energy of the gas molecules.



In the kinetic theory of gases random motion is assumed before deriving anything.




If by some means the gas particles are accelerated to a very high speed in one direction, KE certainly increased, can we say the gas becomes hotter? Do we need to distinguish the random vibration KE and KE in one direction?



The temperature is still defined by the random motion, subtracting the extra energy imposed . This is answered simply by the first part of @LDC3 's answer. Does your hot coffee boil in the cup in an airplane?



Furthermore, if we accelerate a block of metal with ultrasonic vibrator so that the metal is vibrating in very high speed with cyclic motion, can we say the metal is hot when it is moving but suddenly become much cooler when the vibration stop?



This is more complicated, because vibrations may excite internal degrees of freedom and raise the average kinetic energy for that degree of freedom. It would then take time to reach a thermal equilibrium with the surroundings after the vibrations stop. If one supposes that this does not happen, then the answer is the same as for the first part, it is the random motions of the degrees of freedom that define the kinetic energy which is connected to the definitions of temperature. So no heat will be induced by the vibrations.


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