AstronomyTeacher

During our unit on energy, we can help students to learn the concepts
associated with the words "adiabatic" and "isothermal"..two words that
cause students in AP Chem, for example, to switch to memorization mode.

Suppose a block slides across a table, slowing down and coming to a stop.
Take the block as the system and the table as part of the surroundings.
We have to make a decision about the 'dissipated' energy. We hear sound
and can detect that the block and table increase in temperature. We can
simplify by assuming the dissipated energy is accounted as thermal energy.
Can we determine how much thermal energy is apportioned to the block, the
system, and how much to the table, the surroundings? No, not easily. So
we make a modeling assumption: either all the thermal energy is in the
system account, or all the thermal energy is in the surroundings account.
The first assumption is called an "adiabatic" model for the interaction.
The second assumption is called an "isothermal" model for the interaction.

Concepts before vocabulary. In later classes, students will now be able to move on to the intricacies.

This was from a post by Andy Edington on the modeling listserv. Very insightful (at least for me!)