6th Grade Science: Thermal Energy and Particle Motion

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering particle motion, states of matter, thermal energy transfer, and phase changes from the 6th Grade Science Unit 2 assessment.

Addition of Thermal Energy

The process of adding heat to a substance, causing its particles to vibrate faster and move farther apart.

Thermal Energy Loss

The process in which particles lose thermal energy and vibrate slower, such as what occurs when a hot metal spoon is placed in ice water.

Cooling Particle Movement

The change in particle behavior as thermal energy decreases (such as in a balloon left in a cold room), causing particles to vibrate less, move slower, and get closer together.

Thermal Energy Transition (Beakers)

The change observed when thermal energy is added to the closely packed, vibrating particles in Beaker $1$ to produce the rapidly moving, spread-out particles seen in Beaker $2$.

Solid Particle Model

A particle arrangement in which particles vibrate in fixed positions and contain the lowest amount of thermal energy.

Liquid Particle Model

A particle arrangement in which particles can slide past each other and contain a medium amount of thermal energy.

Gas Particle Model

A particle arrangement in which particles move rapidly and randomly in all directions and contain the highest amount of thermal energy.

Melting

A phase change that occurs when thermal energy is transferred from the warmer surroundings into a solid, resulting in a liquid that has more thermal energy than the initial solid.

Evaporation

A phase change where thermal energy is added to liquid matter, causing liquid molecules to become a gas in the air.

Factors Affecting Energy Transfer Speed

The two primary properties that govern how fast thermal energy transfers in a substance: mass and type of matter.

Mass (in Thermal Energy Transfer)

The property explaining that objects with more mass require more energy to change temperature, whereas objects with less mass need less energy to heat up.

Type of Matter (in Energy Transfer)

The material composition of a substance (such as metal versus wood) that determines the rate at which it absorbs and transfers thermal energy.