http://www.ck12.org Chapter 10. Thermal Energy
- heat of fusion:The change in potential energy for the conversion of 1 mole or 1 gram of a solid to a liquid, at
constant pressure and temperature and is usually denoted as∆Hf. - heat of vaporization:The change in potential energy for the conversion of 1 mole or 1 gram of a liquid to a
gas, at constant pressure and temperature and is usually denoted as∆Hv.
The calculation of heat change is not as simple as measuring the temperature of an object. Different objects have
different specific heats, meaning they change temperature at different rates. Temperature and heat, though closely
related, are not the same. While temperature is a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the molecules, heat
is the total kinetic energy. Calculations of changes in heat over phase changes depend not only on the specific heat,
but also on the heat of fusion and the heat of vaporization.