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Chapter 14 Test

The document contains exam-style questions related to thermal physics, focusing on the kinetic theory of matter, thermal energy transfer, specific heat capacity, and latent heat. It includes questions about the behavior of solids, liquids, and gases, as well as calculations involving thermal energy and specific heat capacities. Additionally, it discusses experimental methods for determining specific latent heat and provides scenarios for applying these concepts.

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Ananya Divvela
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11 views4 pages

Chapter 14 Test

The document contains exam-style questions related to thermal physics, focusing on the kinetic theory of matter, thermal energy transfer, specific heat capacity, and latent heat. It includes questions about the behavior of solids, liquids, and gases, as well as calculations involving thermal energy and specific heat capacities. Additionally, it discusses experimental methods for determining specific latent heat and provides scenarios for applying these concepts.

Uploaded by

Ananya Divvela
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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14 Thermal physics

OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

Refer to the Physics A data sheet for data, formulae and relationships information.
1 a Use the kinetic theory of matter to relate the properties of the solid, liquid,
and gaseous phases of a substance, to the forces and distance between its
molecules and to the motion of its molecules.

A solid has a fixed structure that vibrates in place when heated, meaning that the spaces between
atoms are minimal as they are fixed together with strong intermolecular forces. For a liquid the particles
are loosely connected and are free to move around each other. The intermolecular forces aren't as
strong as for a solid and the distance between it's molecules is slightly larger as they are free to move.
The motion of the particles is more random as they gain kinetic energy when being heated. For a gas
there are very weak intermolecular forces between particle so the forces of attraction are weaker. Also
there is random motion between the particles as they collide with the walls and each other which
causes them to gain energy, and move faster and more randomly, as the distances between particles is
large.

(6 marks)

b A block of aluminium at 80 ºC is fully immersed in a beaker of water at 290 K.


Describe the transfer of thermal energy between the three objects involved
and any change in temperature that may take place.

The thermal energy transfers from the block of aluminum to the water and this causes the
aluminum to cool down and the water to heat up so they all reach a thermal equilibrium. There is
no net transfer between the beaker and the water because the same temperature. Thermal energy
is transferred between all three bodies at the same time

(4 marks)

2 Gallium has a melting point of 30 ºC. Figure 1 shows how the temperature, T, of
a small mass of gallium varies when it is heated at a steady rate from
20 ºC to 40 ºC.

Figure 1

The graph shows three distinct sections labelled A, B, and C.

© Oxford University Press 2016 http://www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements


This resource sheet may have been changed from the original 1
14 Thermal physics
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

Describe and explain the features of the graph in terms of the changes which
occur to the separation and speed of the molecules and to their internal energy.

At section A, the solid is being heated so the temperature increases, meaning the kinetic energy also increases
too in section A, as the particles are moving faster and faster, in order to break the strong intermolecular forces.
The internal energy also increases as it's the sum of the random distribution of kinetic energy and potential
energy, as only kinetic energy increases. For section B the temperature isn't increasing, so the kinetic energy
stays the same and the potential energy increases, meaning that the potential energy also increases. The energy
here is used towards breaking the bonds of solid to make a liquid. At C, the gallium is a liquid now and so the
kinetic energy also increases too in section A, as the particles are moving faster and faster, in order to break the
strong intermolecular forces.

(7 marks)

3 a Define the specific heat capacity of a substance.


The amount of energy needed to heat one kg of a substance by 1 degrees celcius.

(1 mark)

b The specific heat capacity of a metal may be determined by using an


electrical heater embedded into a block made out of the metal. Sketch a
labelled diagram of the electrical circuit you would use.

(3 marks)

c The pitch in a football stadium is prevented from freezing by an underground


system of electrical heating cables. Prior to a match the pitch temperature
falls to 5.5 ºC to a depth of 6.0 cm. The area of the pitch is 1.3 × 104 m².
Calculate the thermal energy required to raise the temperature of the soil to
0 ºC assuming the density and specific heat capacity of the soil are
2500 kg m3 and 1600 J kg1 K1, respectively.

(3 marks)

© Oxford University Press 2016 http://www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements


This resource sheet may have been changed from the original 2
14 Thermal physics
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

4 a Derive the SI base unit for specific heat capacity.

(3 marks)

b A bottle containing 500 g of lemonade is placed in a refrigerator. The


lemonade cools from 18 °C to 4.0 °C in a time of 90 minutes.
The specific heat capacity of lemonade is 3900 J kg1 K1.
Calculate:
i the thermal energy removed from the lemonade as it cools

(2 marks)

ii the rate at which thermal energy is removed from the lemonade, in watts.

(1 mark)

5 a Define the specific latent heat of fusion of a substance.

(1 mark)

b Describe an electrical experiment to determine the specific latent heat of


vaporisation of water, L. Include in your answer:
 a labelled diagram of the apparatus
 a list of the measurements to be taken
 an explanation of how the value of L would be determined from your
results
 possible sources of uncertainty in your measurements and how these
could be reduced.

(8 marks)

© Oxford University Press 2016 http://www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements


This resource sheet may have been changed from the original 3
14 Thermal physics
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

6 a A solid substance is placed into a sealed insulated container until it


vaporises. The container is heated electrically at a constant rate until the
substance has completely vaporised. Figure 2 shows the temperature
against time graph for the entire process.

Figure 2

Use the graph to calculate for the substance:


i the ratio
specific heat capacity of the solid phase
specific heat capacity of the liquid phase

(2 marks)

ii the ratio
specific latent heat of vaporisation
specific latent heat of fusion

(2 marks)

b In an espresso coffee machine, steam at 100 ºC is passed into 250 g of milk


in order to heat it from 15 ºC to 80 ºC.
Specific heat capacity of water  4200 J kg1 K1
Specific latent heat of vaporisation of water  2.26 × 106 J kg1
Calculate the mass of steam condensed in the process.

(3 marks)

© Oxford University Press 2016 http://www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements


This resource sheet may have been changed from the original 4

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