Practice explaining thermal energy, temperature, conduction, convection, radiation, and simple heat transfer situations.
Read each problem carefully. Show your work in the space provided and explain your reasoning when asked.
Exploring temperature, energy flow, and methods of heat transfer
Physics - Grade 6-8
- 1
A cup of hot cocoa is placed on a table in a cool room. Describe the direction that heat will flow and explain why.
- 2
Explain the difference between temperature and thermal energy.
- 3
A metal spoon and a wooden spoon are both placed in a pot of hot soup. After a few minutes, the metal spoon feels hotter. Which type of heat transfer explains this, and why does the metal spoon heat up faster?
- 4
Warm air rises above a heater and cooler air moves down to take its place. Name this type of heat transfer and explain how it works.
- 5
The Sun warms your face on a cold day even though space between the Sun and Earth is mostly empty. Which type of heat transfer is this? Explain your answer.
- 6
A student says, "Cold moves from the ice cube into the warm water." Rewrite this statement in a scientifically correct way.
- 7
A 200 gram sample of water is heated from 20°C to 30°C. Did the average kinetic energy of the water particles increase, decrease, or stay the same? Explain.
- 8
A metal pan has a plastic handle. Explain why the handle is often made of plastic instead of metal.
- 9
A sealed bottle of cold water is left on a sunny windowsill. Identify two types of heat transfer that could warm the water and describe how each one happens.
- 10
Two blocks are touching. Block A is 80°C and Block B is 25°C. What will happen to the temperatures of the blocks over time if no heat is lost to the surroundings?
- 11
A student touches a tile floor and a rug in the same room. The tile feels colder than the rug, even though both are at room temperature. Explain why.
- 12
During boiling, water stays at about 100°C even while heat is still being added. What is the added energy being used for?
- 13
A black shirt and a white shirt are placed in direct sunlight. After 20 minutes, the black shirt feels warmer. Explain why.
- 14
A soup pot is stirred while it is heating on a stove. Explain how stirring affects the transfer of thermal energy in the soup.
- 15
A container has 1 kilogram of water at 40°C. Another container has 10 kilograms of water at 40°C. Which container has more thermal energy, and why?