What is Thermal Energy?

Question

I need help finding out what thermal energy is and I needs some examples of it.

Answer 1

Wikipedia is a good place to go for definitions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_energy

Edit--oops, my bad on the link. Copied it from the other answer and didn't fix it. Fixed now.

Answer 2

Wikipedia is a good source, but Mistress Bekki's link is to the wrong place. Try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_energy

Thermal energy is the energy related to heat. It is the melting of ice, the making of steam, the heating of water.

It is what powers a steam engine. It is also what powers your cars engine -- that is after the gasoline is burnt -- the heated air pushes the cylinders up and down.

The sun's thermal energy (i.e. heat) is converted to radiant energy (i.e. light), and when the light hits the earth, it is absorbed and warms the earth up (more thermal energy).

Answer 3

There are a couple of ways to look at this, and I am not sure what aspect you seek.

Thermal energy, heat, is random motion of atoms, molecules, and-or electrons. In, say, gaseous helium, heat manifests as motion of the atoms in space. In gaseous CO2, heat is in molecular motion as well as in vibrational modes [C=O bond stretching, and bending of O=C=O angle from 180 deg]. In metals, heat can also manifest as elevated electron velocities.

Thermal energy can be divided into latent heat [associated with a phase change] and sensible heat [MCpDeltaT].