PhET Simulation: What makes an object hot or cold?

​You will ... explore the relationship between temperature and kinetic energy. What You Need to Know Your sense of touch can tell you if an object is smooth or rough, hard or soft. It can also tell you the relative temperature of the object—in other words, whether it feels cold or hot to the touch. You may think that temperature has nothing to do with kinetic energy. After all, an ice cube at rest on the kitchen counter will still be cold if you give it kinetic energy by tossing it across the kitchen. However, there is a close connection between kinetic energy and temperature. In the activity Gas Properties, you will explore this relationship by observing the behavior of gas particles at different temperatures in a simulated chamber.

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Multiple Choice

1. Why is the gas shown as tiny particles?

• The gas is made of particles that are too small to observe directly.

• Mr. Galer didn't want to scare you.

• The gas is made of very large particles that would be too big.

• The particles represent chemical change of rust on a nail.

Multiple Choice

1. Describe the motion of the particles.

• The particles are all moving at a similar speed, and they occasionally

  collide with each other or the sides of the chamber.

• The particles are traveling a different speeds with no collisions.

• The particles are not traveling but is an illusion of your own mind.

• Because Mr. Galer likes particles in motion.

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Multiple Choice

What happens to the thermometer reading and the motion of the particles as you make the chamber warmer?

• The thermometer reading rises and the particles begin moving faster.

• No Change

• The thermometer reading goes down and moves slower

• The thermometer undergoes thermal equilibrium

Multiple Choice

What happens to the thermometer reading and the motion of the particles as you cool the chamber?

• The thermometer reading lowers and the particles slow down.

• Nothing happens

• The thermometer reading rises and the particles increase their speed until their is an explosion!

• The particles undergo convection changes and begin radiating conduction particles.

Multiple Choice

Based on what you have observed, what is the relationship between kinetic energy and temperature?

• The temperature of an object is related to the kinetic energy of the particles that

  make it up. As the temperature of the object increases, the kinetic energy of the

  particles that make up the object increases.

• There is no relationship to kinetic energy and temperature.

• The temperature of an object does not affect it's kinetic energy.

• The warmer the object the slower it moves given less kinetic energy.