Summary:
- Kinetic energy is the energy of motion.
- When a substance is heated, some of the absorbed energy is stored within the particles.
- This is registered as an increase in the temperature of the substance.
- At any given temperature, not all of the particles of a sample of matter have the same kinetic energy.
- For example, hydrogen gas at 200 K has twice the average kinetic energy as the particles in a hydrogen sample at 100 K. Absolute zero is the temperature at which the motion of particles theoretically ceases.