Answer:
The thermal energy increases
Explanation:
The thermal energy is the total energy contained in a substance due to the thermal motion of its molecules.
In particular, the thermal energy of a substance is directly proportional to:
- The mass of the substance (the more the mass, the more the thermal energy)
- The average kinetic energy of the molecules of the substance (which is directly proportional to the temperature of the substance)
Therefore, we can write:
[tex]E_t \propto E_k[/tex]
where
[tex]E_t[/tex] is the thermal energy of the substance
[tex]E_k[/tex] is the average kinetic energy of the molecules
Therefore, we see that if the average kinetic energy of the molecules goes up, then the thermal energy increases as well.