Practice Quiz

True/False – correct the false statements

1. Thermal energy is associated with the random motion of particles at the molecular scale.
TRUE
2. Temperature is a measure of how much thermal energy something has. FALSE—TEMPERATURE
MEASURES HOW HOT/COLD SOMETHING IS WHICH DEPENDS ON THE AVERAGE KE OF EACH PARTICLE
WHILE THERMAL ENERGY DEPENDS ON THE KE & PE OF ALL OF THE WIGGLING PARTICLES
3. Hot objects always have more thermal energy than cold objects. FALSE—HOT OBJECTS HAVE A HIGHER
TEMPERATURE THAN COLD OBJECTS BUT NOT NECESSARILY MORE THERMAL ENERGY(see previous
answer)
4. Heat is a form of energy. FALSE – HEAT HAS ENERGY UNITS (JOULES) BUT IT IS A MEASURE OF HOW
MUCH THERMAL ENERGY IS TRANSFERRED IN OR OUT OF A SYSTEM.
5. At 0oC objects no longer have any thermal energy. FALSE – AT 0 DEGREES CELSIUS YOU ARE STILL 273 K
ABOVE ABSOLUTE ZERO. THE MOLECULES OF H20 ARE VIBRATING CONSTANTLY EVEN THOUGH THEY
ARE IN A “COLD” SOLID
6. Temperature is a measure of how much kinetic energy each particle in a system has on average. TRUE
7. When heat is added to something its temperature always goes up. FALSE – THE SUBSTANCE COULD BE
CHANGING STATE
8. Specific heat describes how much energy is required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of a substance by 1
degree. TRUE
9. -10oC is equivalent to -283 K FALSE – YOU CAN’T HAVE A NEGATIVE KELVIN TEMPERATURE. 0 K is
“ABSOLUTE ZERO”. -10oC =263K
10. An object warms from 15oC to 45oC. On the Kelvin scale this is an increase of 303 K. FALSE – IF WE
CONVERT TO KELVIN WE ADD 273 TO BOTH THE INTIAL AND FINAL TEMPERATURE BUT THE
DIFFERENCE IN TEMPERATURE REMAINS 30!
11. At -273.15oC it is not possible to remove any more thermal energy from a system. TRUE – THIS IS 0 K
WHICH IS ABSOLUTE ZERO

Questions
12. State the temperature of the following on the Kelvin, Celsius, and Farenheit scales:
a. Absolute Zero 0K, -273oC, -460oF
b. Freezing Point of Water 273K, 0oC, 32oF
c. Boiling Point of Water 373K, 100oC, 212oF
d. Room temperature (70oF) 293 K, 21oC, 70oF

13. Convert the following temperatures:

a. 55oC -> Kelvins 328 K
b. 315 K -> Celsius 42 K
c. 55oF -> Celsius 13oC
d. -10oC -> Farenheit 14oF
14. A student is converting temperatures from Celsius to Kelvins. She says that 22oC is equivalent to -251K.
Explain how you can easily see that this result is incorrect and explain how to fix her mistake.
YOU CAN’T HAVE A NEGATIVE KELVIN TEMPERATURE. 0K IS ABSOLUTE ZERO WHICH MEANS THAT NO
MORE THERMAL ENERGY CAN BE REMOVED. THE STUDENT SHOULD HAVE ADDED 273 TO THE
CELSIUS TEMP. TO GET 295 K.

15. What is T in Kelvins if the initial temperature is 55oC and the final temperature is 87oC?

32 K

16. How much heat is needed to raise the temperature of 3.0 kg of a material by 18oC if its specific heat is
530 J/(kg K)? Q=mc(Tf-Ti) = 3 kg (530 J/kg/K) (18 K) = 28.6 kJ

17. When 35 kJ of heat is added to 2.2 kg of an unknown material its temperature rises from 22.5oC to
28.6oC. What is the specific heat of the material?

c=Q/(mT)=35kJ/(2.2kg x 6.1oC) = 2.6 kJ/(kgoC)

18. An 82 gram chunk of hot metal initially at 145oC is dropped into a container of 254 grams of water
initially at 15.0oC. The system reaches equilibrium at 22.0oC.
A. How much did the thermal energy of the water increase? Q=mcT=7.43 kJ
B. How much heat was released by the metal as it cooled? Qmetal=-7.43 kJ (energy is conserved, the
energy gained by the water came from the metal. We are assuming the system is isolated so that
no energy is lost to the container or surrounding air.
C. What is the specific heat of the metal? c=Qmetal/(mT)=737 J/(kgK)
D. Explain why the water’s temperature changed much less than the metal’s temperature.
Energy moves from the metal to the water so the amount lost by the metal is equivalent to that
gained by the water (see B). But, temperature is not a measure of thermal energy. Temperature
measures average KE per particle. The relationship between thermal energy and temperature
depends on both mass (since a greater mass means that more particles “share” the energy), and
specific heat (since different materials are composed of different molecules with different inter-
molecular bonds). The mass of the water was larger than the metal (each particle gets a smaller
share of the heat absorbed), and water has a high specific heat (a lot of energy needed to change
1 kg by 1oC.) Both of these factors result in a small temperature change compared to the metal.

19. A 75 gram chunk of copper initially at 132oC is dropped into a cup of 125 g of an unknown fluid that is
initially at 20.0oC. The system reaches equilibrium at 28oC. What is the specific heat of the fluid?

Qcopper=mCT=0.075 kg (385 J/kg/K)(-104oC) = -3.00 kJ

Qcopper + Qfluid = 0  Qfuid= - Qcopper = 3.00 kJ

Cfluid=Q/(mT)=3.00kJ/kg
20. What is the equilibrium temperature if 152 g of carbon initially at 95oC is added to 212 g of methanol
initially at 28oC? Check your answer by verifying that the heat lost by the carbon is equal to the heat
gained by the methanol.
Qcarbon + Qmethanol = 0
mccc(Tf-Tci) + mmcm(Tf-Tmi) = 0
(mccc + mmcm)Tf=mcccTci + mmcmTmi
Tf= (mcccTci + mmcmTmi)/ (mccc + mmcm) = (10252+14543)/(107.9+519.4)=39.5oC
Check: Qcarbon=0.152 kg (710 J/kg/oC) (-55.5oC) = -5.95 kJ
Qmethantol=0.212 kg (2450 J/kg/oC) (11.5oC)=5.97 kJ
Answers agree…discrepancy is likely due to rounding

21. Which has more thermal energy, an iron horseshoe glowing red hot in the blacksmith’s furnace, or the
arctic ocean? Explain your answer in a way that shows that you understand the relationship between
temperature and thermal energy.

The iron horseshoe is at a higher temperature but the arctic ocean actually has more thermal
energy.

22. Describe three different mechanisms for the transfer of heat and give a specific example of each.
Radiation: electromagnetic waves are emitted by a hotter object and absorbed by a cooler one.
Example: sunlight entering a solar oven.

Convection: mixing of cooler and warmer fluids. Example: Adding hot water to a cold bath and
swirling the water around to help it reach equilibrium faster. Example: Open window/door in the
winter time lets out warm air and lets in cool air.

Conduction: transfer of thermal energy at an interface or through a boundary. Example: If I pick up a

paper cup with very hot coffee in it hurts my hand. The molecules of water in the coffee are wiggling
with a lot of kinetic energy per particle (high temperature) and when they collide with the inside wall
of the cup they transfer some of this energy. Subsequent collisions with neighboring molecules in the
wall of the cup transfers this to the outside of the cup where collisions with the slower moving (more
precisely lower KE) molecules in my hand cause my hand to warm up.

Going further: If I put a cardboard sleeve around the cup it doesn’t feel as hot because more collisions
have to occur to move the energy through a thicker wall. Also, air gaps slow the conductive flow of
heat because molecules are far apart in the gaseous state and particles aren’t directly connected with
their neighbors. How does this apply to the solar oven project?