4.4 Summary of Section 4
Thermal energy is a random thing, so any group of particles possessing it will have a distribution of kinetic energies.
The fraction of particles with energy greater than an amount E1 is proportional to exp(−E1/kT).
Thermally activated rates follow Arrhenius's law and are characterised by an activation energy.
Diffusion in solids and electrical conduction in ceramics are thermally activated processes.