Either I'm wrong or you guys are confusing kinetic energy with heat energy.
There is no such thing as heat energy, to my understanding. For instance, one atom has no temperature. Heat is the epiphenomenon of the motion of many, many atoms in matter. This is the conclusion of the kinetic theory of gases, it's why hot things expand, etc.
"Heat" is simply a label we apply to the level of random atomic movement in a system. That energy can be transmitted via collision (conduction/convection) or via radiation, when photons are emitted or absorbed.
The two forms of energy, while extremely interrelated and interdependant, are completely different forms of energy...I thought.
If they're so interdependant and interrelated that you can't tell the difference, then no, they're not "completely different forms of energy." "Heat" is simply a word we use to model what is actually a consequence of kinetic energy in a system.
This message has been edited by crashfrog, 03-07-2005 12:37 AM