forces that attract molecules to each other. In this
way, they are somewhat like the rock and the earth
we considered before. Molecules have energy of
motion (internal kinetic energy) because they are
constantly in motion. Thus, the two stored forms
of thermal energyinternal potential energy and
internal kinetic energyare in some ways similar
to mechanical potential energy and mechanical
kinetic energy, except everything is on a smaller
scale.
For most purposes, we will not need to
distinguish between the two stored forms of
thermal energy. Therefore, instead of referring
to internal potential energy and internal kinetic
energy, from now on we will simply use the term
internal energy. By internal energy, then, we will
mean the total of all internal energy stored in the
substance or system because of the motion of the
molecules and because of the forces of attraction
between molecules. Although the term may be
unfamiliar to you, you probably know more
about internal energy than you realize. Because
molecules are constantly in motion, they exert a
pressure on the walls of the pipe, cylinder, or other
object in which they are contained. Also, the
temperature of any substance arises from, and is
directly proportional to, the activity of the
molecules. Therefore, every time you read
thermometers and pressure gauges you are finding
out something about the amount of internal
energy contained in the substance. High pressures
and temperatures indicate that the molecules are
moving rapidly and that the substance therefore
has a lot of internal energy.
Heat is a more familiar term than internal
energy, but may actually be more difficult to
define correctly. The important thing to remember
is that heat is THERMAL ENERGY IN
TRANSITIONthat is, it is thermal energy that
is moving from one substance or system to
another.
An example will help to show the difference
between heat and internal energy. Suppose there
are two equal lengths of pipe made of identical
materials and containing steam at the same
pressure and temperature. One pipe is well
insulated; the other is not insulated at all. From
everyday experience you know that more heat will
flow from the uninsulated pipe than from the
insulated pipe. When the two pipes are first
filled with steam, the steam in one pipe contains
exactly as much internal energy as the steam in
the other pipe. We know this is true because the
two pipes contain equal volumes of steam at the
same pressure and at the same temperature. After
a few minutes, the steam in the uninsulated pipe
will contain much less internal energy than the
steam in the insulated pipe, as we can tell by
measuring the pressure and the temperature of the
steam in each pipe. What has happened? Stored
thermal energyinternal energyhas moved
from one system to another, first from the steam
to the pipe, then from the uninsulated pipe to the
air. This MOVEMENT or FLOW of thermal
energy from one system to another is called heat.
A good deal of confusion exists concerning the
use of the word heat. For example, you will hear
people say that a hot object contains a lot of heat
when they really mean that it contains a lot
of internal energy. Or you will hear that heat is
added to or removed from a substance. Since heat
is the FLOW of thermal energy, it can no more
be added to a substance than the flow of water
could be added to a river. (You might add water,
and this addition might increase the flow, but you
could hardly say that you added flow. ) The only
thermal energy that can in any sense be added to
or removed from a substance is INTERNAL
ENERGY.
ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS
The machinery and equipment in the engineer-
ing plant aboard ship are designed either to carry
energy from one place to another or to change
a substance from one form to another. The
principles of energy transformations and some of
the important energy changes that occur in the
shipboard propulsion cycle are discussed in the
following paragraphs.
Conservation of Energy
The basic principle dealing with the transfor-
mation of energy is the PRINCIPLE OF THE
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. This principle
can be stated in several ways. Most commonly,
perhaps, it is stated that energy can be neither
destroyed nor created, but only transformed.
Another way to state this principle is that the total
quantity of energy in the universe is always the
same. Still another way of expressing this
principle is by the equation, Energy in = Energy
out,
The energy out may be quite different in form
from the energy in, but the total amount of energy
input must always equal the total amount of
energy output.
2-9