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Heat Energy Transfer

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Heat Energy Transfer

Read the field-camp scenario and study the results table. Answer each question using evidence and particle-model ideas where relevant.

A warm lunch at camp

Xavier is testing ways to keep a drink warm during a field camp. She pours equal amounts of hot water into three identical cups. One cup is wrapped in wool, one in aluminium foil, and one is left uncovered. The cups begin at 80°C in a 20°C room. The foil is shiny and the wool is dry. Heat transfers spontaneously from a region at higher temperature to a region at lower temperature.

Cup covering

Starting temperature

Temperature after 10 min

Wool

80°C

68°C

Shiny foil

80°C

62°C

Uncovered

80°C

55°C

Explain the heat transfer

Use the camp investigation to connect the observations to conduction, convection and radiation.

1.Which cup lost the most thermal energy during the 10 minutes? Choose the best answer and use the table to support your choice.

The wool-covered cup
The foil-covered cup
The uncovered cup
All three lost the same amount

2.Calculate the temperature decrease for each cup: wool, foil and uncovered. Show each subtraction.

3.Complete the statement: Heat transfers spontaneously from a object or region to a object or region.

4.A metal spoon left in a hot drink becomes warm along its handle. Name the main heat-transfer process and explain how energy travels through the spoon.

5.In a pot of water heated from below, warmer water rises and cooler water sinks. Name this process and explain why the water moves.

6.On a sunny day, Xavier feels warmth from sunlight on her skin. Which heat-transfer process carries energy from the Sun through space to Earth?

Conduction
Convection
Radiation
Evaporation

7.True or false: The shiny foil keeps the drink warm because aluminium is a better insulator than wool.

TrueFalse

8.Use the table as evidence: which covering kept the water warmest, and how much warmer was it than the uncovered cup after 10 minutes?

9.Xavier wants to improve the test so she can be more confident that the coverings caused the temperature differences. Describe two things she should keep the same or repeat.

10.Write a short evidence-based conclusion for Xavier. State which covering was most effective in this test and support your claim with one result and a heat-transfer idea.