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Internal Energy: Molecular Insights

Internal energy is the total of all microscopic energy forms in a system, including kinetic and potential energies of molecules. It encompasses translational, rotational, and vibrational kinetic energies, particularly in gases where translational and rotational motions dominate. Additionally, the energy from electron motion, including rotational and spin energies, contributes to the internal energy of an atom.

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RANJIT MAITI
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38 views2 pages

Internal Energy: Molecular Insights

Internal energy is the total of all microscopic energy forms in a system, including kinetic and potential energies of molecules. It encompasses translational, rotational, and vibrational kinetic energies, particularly in gases where translational and rotational motions dominate. Additionally, the energy from electron motion, including rotational and spin energies, contributes to the internal energy of an atom.

Uploaded by

RANJIT MAITI
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TOPIC NAME:- Some Physical Insight to Internal Energy DATE:-31/07/2021

Internal energy is defined earlier as the sum of all the microscopic forms of energy of a system. It is
related to the molecular structure and the degree of molecular activity, and can be viewed as the sum
of the kinetic and potential energies of the molecules. To have a better understanding of internal
energy, let us examine a system at the molecular level. The molecules of a gas move through space
with some velocity, and thus possess some kinetic energy. This is known as the translational energy.
The atoms of poly atomic molecules rotate about an axis, and the energy associated with this rotation
is the rotational kinetic energy. The atoms of a poly atomic molecule may also vibrate about their
common center of mass, and the energy associated with this back-and-forth motion is the vibrational

TOPIC NAME:- Some Physical Insight to Internal Energy DATE:-31/07/2021


kinetic energy. For gases, the kinetic energy is mostly due to translational and rotational
motions, with vibrational motion becoming significant at higher temperatures. The electrons
in an atom rotate about the nucleus, and thus possess rotational kinetic energy. Electrons at
outer orbits have larger kinetic energies. Electrons also spin about their axes, and the energy
associated with this motion is the spin energy. Other particles in the nucleus of an atom also
possess spin energy. The portion of the internal energy of a system associated with the kinetic
energies SEGOE PRINT

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