Talk:Thermal energy

This article was nominated for deletion on 28 March 2018. The result of the discussion was no consensus.

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This page is so bad...

This page is so badly written that I am using it as an example for the CRAAP Test for studying sources on the Internet. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.30.225.230 (talk) 00:24, 26 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. The main problem here is that there is no generally accepted thermodynamic defined term called "thermal energy" as we can see. So each contributor is trying to assert different definitions of the term and the result is confusing.

The article should make it clear in the first paragraph that there is no general consensus as to what the term "thermal energy" means.

There are at least three different usages of the term. If one uses "thermal energy" to mean "heat content" (e.g. as a measure of the heat flow per degree Kelvin temperature change per mole or kg of substance at constant volume) then one is effectively using "thermal energy" as a measure of internal energy. If that is how it is used, why use "thermal energy" at all? If one uses "thermal energy" to refer to that part of internal energy of a substance that contributes to temperature, then one is effectively using "thermal energy" as a measure of the average translational kinetic energy of the constituent molecules of the substance. This is how, for example, the term is used in the Hyperphysics site at Georgia State University: ( http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Kinetic/eqpar.html#c2 ). In that case, a unit of liquid water and a unit of water ice at 0C have the same thermal energy. Finally, one could use the term "thermal energy" to refer to the total kinetic energy of the molecules of a substance. This ignores potential energy (ie. due to inter-molecular separation or molecular vibration) so it differs from U , internal energy. I note that the statement "the internal energy is the sum total of the gas's independent particles' kinetic energies" is incorrect. AMSask (talk) 19:52, 18 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I have avoided trying edit the page since it seemed to be owned by editors who know best.

The term 'thermal energy' has been used sporadically, even by such great physicists as James Clerk Maxwell. As observed, it is not a standardly defined term in thermodynamics.

I am not interested in trying to fix the page, because I see difficulties in such an attempt.Chjoaygame (talk) 20:19, 18 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Reason for undo of good faith edit

I have undone this good faith edit.

Heat transfer does not distinguish kinetic from potential energy.Chjoaygame (talk) 16:12, 12 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Industrial thermal energy

This https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thermal_energy&type=revision&diff=1104461578&oldid=1102799939 edit posts a topic rather different from the main direction of this article. This article is about a technical term that is used loosely in several topics of physics, to refer several different manifestations of energy. These uses of the word 'thermal' are quite abstract and are rather different from its use in the new edit, which is about large scale industry, a far more concrete topic. I suggest that the new edit should be moved to form a stub of a new industry-oriented article. It is evident that the editor who posted the new edit expects that there will be more comparable industrial projects.Chjoaygame (talk) 07:38, 17 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Is this a reliable page?

I have opened a discussion about this page at Wikiprojrct Physics as I think there are some deep issues with this page. Comments may be there or here. Ldm1954 (talk) 22:52, 25 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I avoid editing the article Thermal energy because I think it is too heavily loaded with opinion.Chjoaygame (talk) 00:33, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"Thermal enegy" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Thermal enegy has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 August 28 § Thermal enegy until a consensus is reached. fgnievinski (talk) 12:31, 28 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]