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EdTheHead
- 25
- 0
In the equation [tex]\Delta U = \Delta Q + \Delta W[/tex] I'm trying to conceptualize what this means but I don't really know what's meant by heat and work. Would thinking of it as the change in heat results from the work done to or by the system while the work could be anything from beaming x-rays through the system to sending seismic waves through it? Or would a better way to look at it be heat is the energy used in changing the temperature of the system while work is the energy used to change the velocity of the gas particles. The latter doesn't make much sense to me since temperature is pretty much a result of the kinetic energy of the gas particles isn't it.
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