Question

What is the best description of thermal energy?(1 point)
Responses

Thermal energy is a measure of an object or substance’s heat.
Thermal energy is a measure of an object or substance’s heat.

Thermal energy is the energy stored in an object’s chemical bonds.
Thermal energy is the energy stored in an object’s chemical bonds.

Thermal energy is the kinetic energy contained in an object or substance due to the movement of its atoms and/or molecules.
Thermal energy is the kinetic energy contained in an object or substance due to the movement of its atoms and/or molecules.

Thermal energy is kinetic energy.

Answer 1

"Thermal energy is the kinetic energy contained in an object or substance due to the movement of its atoms and/or molecules."

(Heat is the transfer of thermal energy; thermal energy refers to the internal energy from microscopic motion — strictly speaking internal energy also includes microscopic potential energy from particle interactions, but in basic contexts it’s the particles' kinetic energy.)