Hmm, in physics we learned that a more nuanced way of reasoning about temperature is relating it to the change in entropy as heat is added.

If I understand you correctly you are arguing that heat cannot be added to a single atom since there are no inter molecular forces to create oscillations to store the heat.

I’d argue that heat can be added since there are other kinds of energy states that are possible in a single atom such as electric phenomena.

Is there something I’m misunderstanding?

edit This lovely commenter explains this topic very well:

https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/11x4f9t/comment/jd4r58z/

I'm not arguing that the throttle or mixture / propeller controlls don't also have balls, which is what their picture's demonstrate though...

I'm arguing that the origin of the phrase comes from military aviation, where diving in order to gain speed involved moving the control column towards the firewall (one ball) and also the throttle towards the firewall (the other ball), and this lead to the phrase "balls to the wall":

https://www.quora.com/Where-did-the-phrase-balls-to-the-wall-originate

> Another control is the joystick—pushing it forward sends a plane into a dive.So, literally pushing the balls to the (fire)wall would put a plane intoa maximum-speed dive, and figuratively going balls to the wall is doingsomething all-out, with maximum effort.

*edit formatting*

What does that have to do with anything? We're discussing the origin of a phrase here...

I can't find any sources that align with your interpretation. I am not deeply invested in this, but I think it's an interesting exercise in believing things without actually checking whether they're true.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/02/why-we-say-balls-to-the-wall.html

So cofident, but incorrect.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/02/why-we-say-balls-to-the-wall.html

Another word for the control column of an aircraft.

> A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal control device in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a centre stick or side-stick.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joystick

I am not very deeply invested in this, but all the sources that I can find align with the quote I provided, and not your interpretation.

Heyo, you got scammed :P

Etymology. First attested in the 1960s in the context of aviation, in reference to ball-shaped grips on an aircraft's joystick and throttle. Pushing the "balls to the wall" would put the plane into a maximum-speed dive. Analogous to pedal to the metal.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/153114/where-does-the-phrase-balls-to-the-wall-come-from