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ACSPH018

All systems have thermal energy due to the motion of particles in the system

ACSPH019

Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles in a system

Provided a substance does not change state, its temperature change is proportional to the amount of energy added to or removed from the substance; the constant of proportionality describes the heat capacity of the substance

ACSPH021

Change of state involves internal energy changes to form or break bonds between atoms or molecules; latent heat is the energy required to be added to or removed from a system to change the state of the system

ACSPH022

Two systems in contact transfer energy between particles so that eventually the systems reach the same temperature; that is, they are in thermal equilibrium

ACSPH023

A system with thermal energy has the capacity to do mechanical work (that is, to apply a force over a distance); when work is done, the internal energy of the system changes

ACSPH024

Because energy is conserved, the change in internal energy of a system is equal to the energy added or removed by heating plus the work done on or by the system

ACSPH025

Energy transfers and transformations in mechanical systems (for example, internal and external combustion engines, electric motors) always result in some heat loss to the environment, so that the usable energy is reduced and the system cannot be 100 percent …

ACSPH026

The nuclear model of the atom describes the atom as consisting of an extremely small nucleus, which contains most of the atom’s mass and is made up of positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons surrounded by negatively charged electrons

ACSPH027

Nuclear stability is the result of the strong nuclear force, which operates between nucleons over a very short distance and opposes the electrostatic repulsion between protons in the nucleus

ACSPH028

Some nuclides are unstable and spontaneously decay, emitting alpha, beta and/or gamma radiation over time until they become stable nuclides

ACSPH029

Each species of radionuclide has a specific half-life

ACSPH030

Alpha, beta and gamma radiation have sufficient energy to ionise atoms

ACSPH031

Einstein’s mass/energy relationship, which applies to all energy changes, enables the energy released in nuclear reactions to be determined from the mass change in the reaction

ACSPH032

Alpha and beta decay are examples of spontaneous transmutation reactions, while artificial transmutation is a managed process that changes one nuclide into another

ACSPH033

Neutron-induced nuclear fission is a reaction in which a heavy nuclide captures a neutron and then splits into two smaller radioactive nuclides, with the release of neutrons and energy

ACSPH034

A fission chain reaction is a self-sustaining process that may be controlled to produce thermal energy, or uncontrolled to release energy explosively

ACSPH035

Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which light nuclides combine to form a heavier nuclide, with the release of energy

ACSPH036

More energy is released per nucleon in nuclear fusion than in nuclear fission because a greater percentage of the mass is transformed into energy

ACSPH037

Electrical circuits enable electrical energy to be transferred efficiently over large distances and transformed into a range of other useful forms of energy including thermal and kinetic energy, and light.

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