The accurate comparison of the lake water and the coffee is:
The lake will have more total thermal energy, but the particles in the coffee will be moving faster.
Here's why:
- The lake contains a much larger volume of water compared to the cup of coffee, so even though the lake water might be cold, its total thermal energy is greater due to its mass.
- The coffee, being hot, has particles that are moving faster than the particles in the cold lake water.
Thus, this statement accurately reflects the relationship between the thermal energy and particle motion in both the coffee and the lake water.