This simulation lets learners explore how heating and cooling adds or removes energy. Use a slider to heat blocks of iron or brick to see the energy flow. Next, build your own system to convert mechanical, light, or chemical energy into electrical or thermal energy. (Learners can choose sunlight, steam, flowing water, or mechanical energy to power their systems.) The simulation allows students to visualize energy transformation and describe how energy flows in various systems. Through examples from everyday life, it also bolsters understanding of conservation of energy. This item is part of a larger collection of simulations developed by the Physics Education Technology project (PhET).

This course focuses on the fundamentals of structure, energetics, and bonding that underpin materials science. It is the introductory lecture class for sophomore students in Materials Science and Engineering, taken with 3.014 and 3.016 to create a unified introduction to the subject. Topics include: an introduction to thermodynamic functions and laws governing equilibrium properties, relating macroscopic behavior to atomistic and molecular models of materials; the role of electronic bonding in determining the energy, structure, and stability of materials; quantum mechanical descriptions of interacting electrons and atoms; materials phenomena, such as heat capacities, phase transformations, and multiphase equilibria to chemical reactions and magnetism; symmetry properties of molecules and solids; structure of complex, disordered, and amorphous materials; tensors and constraints on physical properties imposed by symmetry; and determination of structure through diffraction. Real-world applications include engineered alloys, electronic and magnetic materials, ionic and network solids, polymers, and biomaterials.
This course is a core subject in MIT’s undergraduate Energy Studies Minor. This Institute-wide program complements the deep expertise obtained in any major with a broad understanding of the interlinked realms of science, technology, and social sciences as they relate to energy and associated environmental challenges.

Students explore material properties by applying some basic principles of heat transfer. They use calorimeters to determine the specific heat of three substances: aluminum, copper and another of their choice. Each substance is cooled in a freezer and then placed in the calorimeter. The temperature change of the water and the substance are used in heat transfer equations to determine the specific heat of each substance. The students compare their calculated values with tabulated data.

Students learn about the nature of thermal energy, temperature and how materials store thermal energy. They discuss the difference between conduction, convection and radiation of thermal energy, and complete activities in which they investigate the difference between temperature, thermal energy and the heat capacity of different materials. Students also learn how some engineering requires an understanding of thermal energy.

Students relate thermal energy to heat capacity by comparing the heat capacities of different materials and graphing the change in temperature over time for a specific material. Students learn why heat capacity is an important property of thermal energy that engineers use in many applications.

This module includes a mini-lecture (5 minutes) that defines specific heat capacity and includes an examples (no unit conversions).

This course examines classical and quantum models of electrons and lattice vibrations in solids, emphasizing physical models for elastic properties, electronic transport, and heat capacity. Topics covered include: crystal lattices, electronic energy band structures, phonon dispersion relatons, effective mass theorem, semiclassical equations of motion, and impurity states in semiconductors, band structure and transport properties of selected semiconductors, and connection of quantum theory of solids with quasifermi levels and Boltzmann transport used in device modeling.

This is a hands-on lab activity about the properties and states of water. Learners will complete activities using different liquids to understand the three states of matter, explain how the high heat capacity and abundance of liquid water makes life on Earth possible, and understand that water containing salts and minerals has different properties than fresh water. They will graph data to analyze and articulate results and conclusions. The lab is set up as three stations that small groups of students rotate through; it can also be done as demonstrations (e.g., for younger students). Background information, common preconceptions, a glossary and more is included. This activity is part of the Aquarius Hands-on Laboratory Activities.

How does energy flow in and out of our atmosphere? Explore how solar and infrared radiation enters and exits the atmosphere with an interactive model. Control the amounts of carbon dioxide and clouds present in the model and learn how these factors can influence global temperature. Record results using snapshots of the model in the virtual lab notebook where you can annotate your observations.

In this activity, students are introduced to the concept of remote sensing. In the course of this experiment, students will investigate heat conduction on two surfaces and understand the application of these techniques to spacecraft investigations of surfaces in the solar system. Materials required for the outdoor demonstration include a cement step, sand, laboratory thermometers, foam rubber, and a meter stick. An optional indoor experimental set up uses twin desk lamps with equal-wattage tungsten bulbs and an infrared thermometer. A student datasheet accompanies the activity. This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications.

This project includes three files: 1) a slide show presentation on thermochemistry (pptx file) 2) in-class activity sheet on thermochemistry questions (docx file) 3) in-class activity sheet with solutions (docx file). This set of files has been adapted for a science-major General Chemistry course from Chemistry: atom first (Openstax) and other various Open Education Resources. Main sources for this set of slides are: 1) Chemistry: atom first (Openstax ); 2) Chemistry LibreTexts Library; 3) Wikipedia commons; 4) US- Energy information administration.. Various links to online available resources are included in the text.

Hank teaches us why water is one of the most fascinating and important substances in the universe.

Chapters:
Re-watch
Introduction
Molecular structure & hydrogen bonds
Cohesion & surface tension
Adhesion
Hydrophilic substances
Hydrophobic substances
Henry Cavendish
Ice Density
Heat Capacity