States of Matter
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Controls
40 K
40 K
Add or remove energy with the heater/cooler. Watch the temperature pause as the solid melts — the energy goes into breaking the structure apart, not into making the particles hotter.
Setpoint
40 K
Holding
Cool
Hold
Heat
The heater/cooler springs back to zero when released, holding the sample at whatever temperature it reached. The thermometer on the simulation shows the measured temperature.
units of ε
Kinetic
0.00
Potential
0.00
Total
0.00
Kinetic energy tracks temperature. While the sample melts, added energy goes into breaking up the regular arrangement rather than raising the temperature, so the total keeps climbing even as the temperature pauses.
Space Play / Pause R Reset