In the last activity, you learned about mechanical and chemical energy. There are two other types of energy that you will learn about in this activity — thermal and electrical energy. Let's find out how these two types of energy are different!

Thermal energy is the total kinetic energy of all the particles in a substance. Remember from the last activity, kinetic energy is energy in motion. The quicker the particles move, the more kinetic energy it has.

Do you remember when you looked at the pictures of how the atoms of a solid, liquid, and a gas were arranged? The farther apart the atoms are, the more space they have to move and, therefore, the more more kinetic energy they have.

 

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Think of it like this: If you compare equal amounts of water as a liquid and as a gas, which one has the atoms spread farther apart? Water as a gas has atoms that are spread farther apart. This means the atoms have more kinetic energy and, therefore, more thermal energy. Water as a gas is warmer than water as a liquid.

A simpler way to think of thermal energy is to think of heat. Anything that gives off heat is giving off thermal energy. The toaster you use gives off thermal energy. When you had a shower this morning, the water gave off thermal energy. Even the Earth gives off thermal energy.