Investigating Heat

Question 1

Identify what heat is.

Answer 1

Heat (Q) is a TYPE of energy (also referred to as thermal energy) which is transferred from hotter objects to colder objects.

Question 2

Identify what temperature is and the relation to heat.

Answer 2

Temperature (T) is the general measure of the motion of particles in certain scales like Celsius, Kelvin & Fahrenheit. This relates to heat as and increase in thermal energy = more particle motion = higher temperature

Question 3

Explain what heat capacity is.

Answer 3

Heat capacity is the amount of thermal energy that an object can hold at any certain time.
Specific heat capacity is the number of J required to heat 1g of substance by 1 degrees Celcius
The formula for heat capacity is Q = mC(ΔT).

Question 4

What unit is heat measured in and why?

Answer 4

Heat is measured in the standard SI unit of Joules (J) because it is a form of energy,

Question 5

Identify what conduction is when relating to heat.

Answer 5

Conduction is method of transferring heat from one object to another. Conduction works by allowing heat to move through an object to another in contact to the object.

Question 6

Identify what convection is when relating to heat.

Answer 6

Convection is the transferral of heat through matter which particles can freely move (ie liquids & gases).
The source of heat is fixed and the particles move towards the source of heat then they move away.

Question 7

Identify what radiation is relating to heat

Answer 7

Radiation is method of heat transfer through empty space (a vacuum) via EM radiation.
The source is fixed and directly distributes the heat.

Question 8

Explain convection currents in relation of particle theory.

Answer 8

Convection currents are caused by a fluid (gas or liquid) being heated by a source so that the fluid’s particles expand so they are less dense. (They take up more space and using the density formula D = m/v they are less dense) Archimedes’ law state that less dense objects float/rise due to buoyancy, therefore hot fluids would rise. Cool particles would rush in to fill the space and as the particles move away from the heat source they cool (They become the cool particles mentioned before) and they fall back down to the heat source.

Question 9

Give examples of good conductors & poor conductors(insulators)

Answer 9

Good conductors include all the metals eg. Copper, Iron

Insulators include wood, plastic etc.

Question 10

Explain what transmission (in terms of heat and light is)

Answer 10

Transmission is allowing light or heat to pass through an object.
When particles enter an object and are re-emitted out the other side it’s said to have been transmitted.