In classical statistical mechanics, the equipartition theorem is a general formula that relates the temperature of a system with its average energies. The equipartition theorem is also known as the law of equipartition, equipartition of energy, or simply equipartition. The original idea of equipartition was that, in thermal equilibrium, energy is shared equally among all of its various forms; for example, the average kinetic energy in the translational motion of a molecule should equal the average kinetic energy in its rotational motion.




![On the mechanical foundations of thermodynamics: The generalized Helmholtz theorem [An article from: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z37478WSL._SL160_.jpg)