Chapter 22 Thermal Physics Questions & Solutions

Review Questions
1. What is the role of loose electrons in heat conductors?
They transfer energy through the conducting material
2. Why does a piece of room-temperature metal feel cooler to the touch than paper, wood, or cloth?
It is a better conductor and draws more energy from a persons skin.
3. What is the difference between a conductor and an insulator?
A conductor moves heat quickly, whereas an insulator moves heat slowly.
4. Why are materials such as wood, fur, feathers, and even snow good insulators?
They have many air spaces and air is a good insulator
5. What is meant by saying that cold is not a tangible thing?
Cold is the absence of heat.
6. How does Archimedes principle relate to convection?
Warmed air is less dense and is buoyed upward.
7. Why does the direction of costal winds change when it is compressed? When it expands?
The land is warmer then the water during the day, so the air rises. The opposite happens at
night
8. How does the temperature of a gas change when it is compressed? When it expands?
Increases; Decreases, is abiabatic
9. Dominoes are placed upright in a row, one next to another. When one is tipped over, it knocks against
its neighbor, which does the same in cascade fashion until the whole row collapses. Which of the
three types of heat transfer is the most similar to?
Conduction
10. What is radiant energy?
The energy in electromagnetic waves
11. How do the wavelengths of radiant energy very with the temperature of the radiating source?
Higher temperature sources produce waves of shorter wavelengths
12. Why does a good absorber of radiant energy appear black?
It absorbs rather than reflects light
13. Why do eye pupils appear black?
Light entering is absorbed
14. Is a good absorber of radiation a good emitter or a poor emitter?
Good, otherwise there would be no thermal equilibrium
15. Which will normally cool faster, a black pot of tea or a silver pot of hot tea?
Black is a better emitter, and so will cool faster
16. Which will undergo the greater rate of cooling a red-hot poker in a warm oven or a red-hot poker in a
cold room (or do both cool at the same rate)
Cold room; greater change in temperature
17. Does Newtons law of cooling apply to warming as well as to cooling?
Yes
18. What is terrestrial radiation?
Radiant energy emitted by earth
19. Solar radiant energy is composed of short waves, yet terrestrial radiation is composed of relatively
longer waves. Why?
Earths Temperature is lower, so it produces waves of longer length.
20. a. What does it mean to say that the greenhouse effect is like a one-way valve?
Only short wavelengths pass back out
b. Is the greenhouse effect more pronounced for florists greenhouses or for the Earths surface?
Earth

Think and Explain (Extra Credit)

21. At what common temperature will both a block of wood and a piece of metal feel neither hot nor cool
when you touch them with your hand? Same temperature as your hand
22. If you stick a metal rod in a snow bank, the end in your hand will soon become cold. Does cold flow
from the snow to your hand? No, energy flows from your and via the rod to the snow
23. Wood is a poor conductor, which means that heat is slow to transfer even when wood is very hot.
Why can firewalkers safely walk barefoot on red-hot pieces of iron? Iron transfers the internal
energy very fast
24. Notice that a desk lamp often has small holes near the top of the metal lampshade. How do these
holes keep the lamp cool? They allow convection
25. When a space shuttle is in orbit and there appears to be no gravity in the cabin, why can a candle not
stay lit? No convection; the CO2 around the candle cuts off the O2
26. In Montana, the state highway department spreads coal dust on top of snow. When the sun comes out,
the snow rapidly melts. Why? The dust absorbs solar energy
27. Suppose that a person at a restaurant is served coffee before he or she is ready to drink it. In order that
the coffee be hottest when the person is ready for it, should cream be added to it right away or just
before it is drunk? Right away, because whiter coffee wont radiate and cool so quickly. Also, the
higher the temperature of the coffee compared with its surroundings, the greater will be the rate
of cooling. And, increasing the amount of liquid for the same surface area slows the cooling.
28. Will a can of beverage cool just as fast in the regular part of the refrigerator as it will in the freezer
compartment? (What physical law do you think about in answering this?) No, it cools faster in the
freezer because its rate of cooling is proportional to the difference in temperature
29. If you wish to save fuel on a cold day, and youre going to leave your warm house for a half hour or
so, should you turn your thermostat down a few degrees, down all the way, or leave it at room
temperature? Off altogether. The mount of heat energy, and thus fuel, required to raise T inside
again is small compared with the amount of heat energy that continually escapes
30. If the composition of the upper atmosphere were changes so that it permitted a greater amount of
terrestrial radiation to escape, what effect would this have on Earths climate? Conversely, what
would be the effect if the upper atmosphere reduced the escape of terrestrial radiation? Earths
temperature would decrease and cooling of the climate would result. Conversely, warming of
the Earths climate would result.