Thermal Physics Flashcards
What is the specific heat capacity (c) of a material?
The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of the material by 1 degree Celsius/Kelvin without any change of state
What are the units of specific heat capacity (c)
J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹
How do you calculate the total energy supplied to an electrical heater.
W = IVt
What is the specific heat capacity of water?
4200 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹
What is the specific latent heat of vaporisation (L) of a substance?
The energy required to change 1kg of a liquid to a gaseous state with no change in temperature
What is the specific latent heat of fusion (L) of a substance?
The energy required to change 1 kg of solid to liquid with no change in temperature.
What are the units of specific latent heat (L)?
J kg⁻¹
When would you use the equation ∆Q = mc∆T + mL?
If an object changes temperature and changes state during heating.
What is the internal energy of a substance?
The sum of the randomly distributed kinetic and potential energy of the particles in an object
What is thermal equilibrium?
When two objects at the same temperature so no heat flows between them.
What is the relationship between absolute temperature and the average KE of particles in a substance?
Absolute temperature is proportional to average kinetic energy of the particles in a substance.
What is the triple point of a substance?
The temperature and pressure at which a substance can exist in all three phases in thermal equilibrium.
Describe the kinetic model of a solid.
A regular arrangement of particles that are strongly attracted to each other. Particles vibrate around fixxed positions.
Describe the kinetic model of a liquid.
Particles are attracted to each other but are able to move relative to each other (flow)
Describe the kinetic model of a gas
Particles are far apart and there are no forces of attraction between them. They occupy the volume of the whole container.
Why doesn’t the temperature of a substance change whilst it is changing state?
The electrostatic potential of the particles is changing rather than the kinetic energy
Why is the electrostatic potential energy of liquids and solids negative?
Energy must be supplied to the substance to break the bonds between particles.
What effect does increasing the temperature have on the particles in a substance?
t increases their average kinetic energy
What is Brownian motion?
The random motion of small particles such as pollen grains or smoke particles suspended in a fluid.
What causes Brownian motion?
The collisions between the individual atoms/molecules and the smoke/pollen particle transfer momentum
What is the conclusion from Brownian motion?
Particles that make up a fluid/gas are much smaller than the pollen/smoke particle and are in rapid, random motion.
What is Avogadro’s constant?
A number of particles equal to the number of atoms in 12 grams of carbon-12
What is one mole of a substance?
An amount in which the number of atoms/molecules is equal to Avogadro’s constant.
What is the molar mass of a substance?
The mass of one mole of a substance.
How do you find the mass of one atom from its nucleon number?
Multiply nucleon number by the atomic mass unit (u) in kg.
How is the atomic mass unit defined?
It is 1/12th the mass of a Carbon-12 atom