ATP Worksheet for 10th C Thermal Physics

1. A student compares the conduction of heat through different metals.

Fig. 3.1 shows the apparatus used.

Four rods of different metals each have one end fixed through a cork into a metal box. The metal box
contains hot water. Each rod has a pea attached to it by wax.
(a) Heat from the hot water is conducted to the end of each rod.
Describe what happens to the wax and to the pea on one of the rods.

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(b) State two factors that should be the same for all the rods in this experiment.
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2 .. [2]
(c) State how the experiment shows which of the metals is the best conductor of heat.

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(d) The student is asked to suggest an improvement to the experiment.
He suggests placing several peas along each rod, as shown in Fig. 3.2.

Explain how this gives a better comparison of the conduction of heat through the different metals.

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2. A laboratory thermometer is used to measure the temperature of oil in a test-tube. The
thermometer is initially at room temperature. Fig. 3.1 shows the thermometer.

(a) State the temperature shown by the thermometer in Fig. 3.1.

temperature = ............................................... [1]
(b) A test-tube of oil is heated in a bath of very hot water for 15 minutes, as shown in Fig. 3.2.

(i) Explain why the level of oil in the test-tube should be below the level of water in the water bath.

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(ii) A student removes the test-tube from the water bath. He then places the thermometer in the oil.
Describe how the reading on the thermometer changes over the next few minutes.

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(iii) Describe how the student reads the thermometer accurately.

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(c) A second student repeats the experiment in (b) using a temperature sensor instead of a
thermometer. The temperature sensor is connected to a data logger. The data logger records the
temperature every 0.1 s for 20 minutes. On the axes shown in Fig. 3.3, sketch the shape of the graph
produced by the data logger.

[2]
3. A student uses an electric kettle to measure the specific heat capacity of water.
Fig. 2.1 shows a kettle containing 1.0 kg of water.

The kettle has a label on the base, as shown in Fig. 2.2.

The initial temperature of the water is 19 C. The kettle is switched on for 1.0 minute and the final
temperature of the water is 53 C.
(a) The relationship
power time = mass specific heat capacity temperature change
is used to find the specific heat capacity of water.
Use the relationship and the given data to find the smallest possible value for the specific heat
capacity c of water. Give your answer to a suitable number of significant figures.

c = ............................................ J / (kg C) [3]

(b) (i) Explain why the water should be stirred before reading the thermometer.

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(ii) Explain why the thermometer should not touch the metal plate when measuring the temperature of
the water.

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(c) The students answer for c is larger than the accepted value.
Suggest a reason why this answer is too large.

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4. Two beakers containing same volume of water (at 90 oC) are kept at room temperature, shown in
Fig 1.4.

State and explain the effect of using the wider beaker on the time taken for the temperature of the
water to fall from 90 C to 80 C.

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