GCSE Physics: Internal Energy Visualisation

It's all about energy. When we heat ice, we're transferring energy from the heater into the ice itself. That energy has to be stored somewhere. It turns out it is stored in 2 places. The temperature rises as the movement of the particles increases. This is a kinetic energy store, because the movement of the particles stores the energy. The temperature stops rising as the ice is about to change state to water, even though we're still heating it (we're still transferring energy to the substance). Because we're still heating it, we're still transferring energy, and THIS energy also has to be stored somewhere. We call this the potential energy store. The energy is being stored in the transformation of ice (solid) to water (liquid). The same cycle repeats as water is heated and then eventually turns to steam (water vapour, a gas).