internal energy

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noun Thermodynamics.

a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, that represents the internal state of a system that is due to the energies of the molecular constituents of the system. The change in internal energy during a process is equal to the net heat entering the system minus the net work done by the system. Symbol: U

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Origin of internal energy

First recorded in 1885–90

Words nearby internal energy

internal-combustion, internal-combustion engine, internal conflict, internal conversion, internal ear, internal energy, internal exile, internal gear, internal iliac artery, internalization, internalize

How to use internal energy in a sentence

I think a lot of it has to do with the attitude and the energy behind it and the honesty.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical|Stereo Williams|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Total oil production figures include crude oil, natural gas liquids, and other liquid energy products.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4|PunditFact.com|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The energy economy has always been a fixture of Texas life, and that has not changed.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Day by day, it drives people to distraction by diverting energy to mindless legal compliance.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Chickens require significantly less land, water, and energy than all other meat options except farmed salmon.
The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity|William O’Connor|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is the first and principal point at which we can stanch the wastage of teaching energy that now goes on.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
Sleek finds it far harder work than fortune-making; but he pursues his Will-o'-the-Wisp with untiring energy.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Under the internal pressure his whiskers stood on end and his face grew red.
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) Ogden
This may be done by taking the humming tone and bringing to bear upon it a strong pressure of energy.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
It was, of course, the suppressed emotional energy finding another outlet.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood

British Dictionary definitions for internal energy

internal energy

noun

the thermodynamic property of a system that changes by an amount equal to the work done on the system when it suffers an adiabatic change. It is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies of its constituent atoms, molecules, etcSymbol: U, E

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012