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center o bass
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The equipartition theorem states that the average energy of any quadratic degree of freedom is [tex]1/2 k T[/tex], such that the total thermal energy is [tex]U_{thermal} = Nf\frac{1}{2}kT [/tex] where f is the number of degrees of freedom.
When the temperature is high enough the vibration mode is excited and then we are to include a potential energy term for the energy coming from the bond between molecules, [tex]\frac{1}{2}kx^2[/tex] (At least according to my book).
I thought that the _thermal_ energy of a system was only associated with the kinetic energy of the molecules, but if this is right, what then is that potential energy term doing in my calculations?
When the temperature is high enough the vibration mode is excited and then we are to include a potential energy term for the energy coming from the bond between molecules, [tex]\frac{1}{2}kx^2[/tex] (At least according to my book).
I thought that the _thermal_ energy of a system was only associated with the kinetic energy of the molecules, but if this is right, what then is that potential energy term doing in my calculations?