Changes

== Abstract ==

== Abstract ==

The kinetic theory explains temperature as the collective effect of the motion of many particles.  Usually these collective effects are only observed as the average behavior of millions of billions of particles which all share a common pool of energy. According to kinetic theory, all of the particles which share a common pool of energy are called members of an ensemble.  Each member is free to use a random amount of energy from the shared pool, but one particle using a lot of energy leaves less energy for the other particles.  This means that the majority of the particles in an ensemble have energies close to or less than the average energy, while a few of them have energies much larger than the average.  When the energy distribution of the ensemble reaches a steady state, the ensemble is said to be in thermal equilibrium.  The average energy per particle for an ensemble in equilibrium is called temperature, according to the kinetic theory.

The kinetic theory explains temperature as the collective effect of the motion of many particles.  Usually these collective effects are only observed as the average behavior of millions of billions of particles which all share a common pool of energy. According to kinetic theory, all of the particles which share a common pool of energy are called members of an ensemble.  Each member is free to use a random amount of energy from the shared pool, but one particle using a lot of energy leaves less energy for the other particles.  This means that the majority of the particles in an ensemble have energies close to or less than the average energy, while a few of them have energies much larger than the average.  When the energy distribution of the ensemble reaches a steady state, the ensemble is said to be in thermal equilibrium.  The average energy per particle for an ensemble in equilibrium is called temperature, according to the kinetic theory.  The energy distribution of the members of an ensemble in thermal equilibrium at temperature T is an exponential distribution with an average energy kT, where k (Boltzmann's constant) converts temperature from degrees Kelvin to units of energy (Joules).  

determining the temperature. particles are free to extract energy from the reservoir and rStatistical physics describes temperature variation as the average kinetic energy, with very few particles with a large amount of kinetic energy and many particles with very small amounts of kinetic energy. This experiment takes advantage of that theory to detect single particles. It uses a new photon detector called an SiPM (Silicon Photomultiplier). The SiPM works like a mousetrap, storing a large amount of energy. A single particle could have enough energy to cause the SiPM to release the all of its stored energy. This energy is then detected and this is the detection of the thermal energy of an individual particle.  

determining the temperature. particles are free to extract energy from the reservoir and rStatistical physics describes temperature variation as the average kinetic energy, with very few particles with a large amount of kinetic energy and many particles with very small amounts of kinetic energy. This experiment takes advantage of that theory to detect single particles. It uses a new photon detector called an SiPM (Silicon Photomultiplier). The SiPM works like a mousetrap, storing a large amount of energy. A single particle could have enough energy to cause the SiPM to release the all of its stored energy. This energy is then detected and this is the detection of the thermal energy of an individual particle.  

[[Counting individual photons|Back]]

[[Counting individual photons|Back]]