- #1
Vadermort
- 11
- 0
I'm a high school science student/aficionado (since it's sort of hard to specialize in anything in high school) and I have some relatively elementary questions:
I learned in chemistry class that temperature is the average kinetic energy of the particles in any given sample of gas, so basically, shouldn't wind be hotter than still air? Is the majority of an atom's or molecule's kinetic energy simply vibration instead of movement along any specific vector, or are their different ways to measure temperature besides average kinetic energy? I am talking more about measured temperature than humanly perceived temperature.
My other question has to do with mass. In class, when you measure something with a balance or scale, the base unit of measurement is the gram. It is my understanding that what we're actually measuring is g*m/s^2, or the force of gravity on that particular mass. It is also my understanding that mass is sort of a measurement of how much inertia effects any particular body. I'm so lost on this one I don't really even know how to phrase a question, other than what's happening with weight measurements? When we deal with outer space e.g a moon landing do we have to measure these things in a different fashion?
If it helps with the explanations, I have an understanding of how ideal gases function and can understand algebra (elementary, of course) and maybe even (a little) bit of calculus. Mathematical explanations not necessarily preferred but appreciated.
I learned in chemistry class that temperature is the average kinetic energy of the particles in any given sample of gas, so basically, shouldn't wind be hotter than still air? Is the majority of an atom's or molecule's kinetic energy simply vibration instead of movement along any specific vector, or are their different ways to measure temperature besides average kinetic energy? I am talking more about measured temperature than humanly perceived temperature.
My other question has to do with mass. In class, when you measure something with a balance or scale, the base unit of measurement is the gram. It is my understanding that what we're actually measuring is g*m/s^2, or the force of gravity on that particular mass. It is also my understanding that mass is sort of a measurement of how much inertia effects any particular body. I'm so lost on this one I don't really even know how to phrase a question, other than what's happening with weight measurements? When we deal with outer space e.g a moon landing do we have to measure these things in a different fashion?
If it helps with the explanations, I have an understanding of how ideal gases function and can understand algebra (elementary, of course) and maybe even (a little) bit of calculus. Mathematical explanations not necessarily preferred but appreciated.