Describe the transfer of energy between two systems in thermal contact due to temperature differences of those two systems.

• Two systems are in thermal contact if the systems may transfer energy by thermal processes.
• Heating is the transfer of energy into a system by thermal processes.
• Cooling is the transfer of energy out of a system by thermal processes.
• The thermal processes by which energy may be transferred between systems at different temperatures are conduction, convection, and radiation.
• Energy is transferred through thermal processes spontaneously from a higher-temperature system to a lower-temperature system.
• In collisions between atoms from different systems, energy is most likely to be transferred from higher-energy atoms to lower-energy atoms.
• After many collisions of atoms from different systems, the most probable state is one in which both systems have the same temperature.
• Thermal equilibrium results when no net energy is transferred by thermal processes between two systems in thermal contact with each other.

More videos

More videos

Simulation page: Energy Forms and Changes

Simulation page: Gas Properties