The temperature of a sample of a substance reflects the average kinetic energy of its constituent particles (atoms or molecules) relative to its center of mass. Quantum mechanics predicts that, at room temperature and ordinary pressures, an isolated atom in a gas cannot store any significant amount of energy except in the form of kinetic energy. Therefore, when a certain number N of atoms of a monatomic gas receives an input Q of heat energy, in a container of fixed volume, the kinetic energy of each atom will increase by Q / N, independently of the atom's mass. This assumption is the foundation of the theory of ideal gases.