Energy and Change:
Heat or thermal energy?

When we stand in the sunlight we can feel the 'heat' of the Sun radiating down on us. Heat is a term that is much misused and misunderstood. The term heat is best used in the following context:

• Heat as a verb describes the energy transferred from one place to another due to temperature differences. "Please heat up the water for the tea".
  
• Heat as a noun describes the quantity of energy transferred. "There is a lot of heat in the fire".
  
• The amount of energy stored in a object because of its temperature, substance and mass is called its thermal energy. It is when some of this thermal energy is transferred that heating occurs.

When we say we heat up some water to make tea, thermal energy is being transferred from a hotplate or flame to the water, increasing the water's thermal energy.

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