Firstly,let's imagine a room full of people at an event.They all look dull,lethargic,and generally nerdy(Example:Symposium on the 10,000 Ways to Fry A Tomato).Anyways,all of a sudden,one of the guys suddenly collapses(poor guy had a heart attack watching tomatoes suffer).Everyone's in a panic,starting with the people closest to the poor chap.Within minutes,what was once a dull,boring event has become a 10,000 person scramble,with people running around,tearing at their hair,etc.
Now imagine the same situation,but with 10 people dropping dead simultaneously.The effect would be much greater,wouldn't it?People might even suspecct a gas attack or something.
Almost the same thing happens to molecules.When one molecule becomes excited(dead guy) in a lattice(all the people in the room),the excitement spreads from that excited molecule to adjacent molecules(the people next to the dead guy).Soon,the wave of energy spreads throughout the entire lattice(everyone panics) and all the molecules are soon vibrating as fast as the initial molecules that started off the wave.Of course,some people might panic more than others(the world is ending,blahblahblah),and some less(perhaps they fell asleep during lecture no.92289),but the effect on the general population of the room is the same;they all are in a state of excitement.
Therefore,the average kinetic energy of the lattice(people in the room) increases proportionally to the temperature of the gas(amount of dead guys in the room).
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