if we think of heat as energy, what do we consider something like simple ice cubes?

Question

So we consider heat to be energy. But what is the reaction of putting ice cubes into a drink? Is this not energy too?

In: 0

Answer 1

If you drop an ice cube into a cup of warm water, the ice has less energy than the water. So energy is transferred from the water (cooling it) to the ice (warming it). The ice would be an absorber of the water’s energy.

It’s just two different energy levels meeting in the middle.

(energy in this case means “intermolecular kinetic energy”, which is basically what heat is)

Why does this happen? Think of a pool ball hitting stationary pool ball. After the collison, the stationary ball is now moving, and the moving ball is moving slower. Now replace the pool balls with atoms.