Chapter 23 Thermal Physics Questions &

Solutions
1. Do all the molecules or atoms in a liquid have about the same speed, or much
different speeds?
A wide distribution of various speeds
2. What is evaporation, and why is it also a cooling process?
Change of phase from liquid to gas; the remaining liquid loses KE and cools.
3. Why does a dog pant on a hot day? To cool by evaporation from the mouth
and throat.
4. What is condensation, and why is it also a warming process?
Change of phase from gas to liquid; the existing liquid gains KE and warms.
5. Why is being burned by steam more damaging than being burned by boiling water
of the same temperature?
Steam has more internal energy than boiling
water.
6. Which usually contains more water vapor- warm air or cool air?
Warm
air.
7. Why does warm moist air form clouds when it rises?
It expands, cools, and the slower-moving water molecules stick together.
8. Why do you feel less chilly if you dry yourself inside the shower stall after taking
a shower?
The greater condensation inside the shower area reduces the cooling effect of
evaporation.
9. How can you tell id the rate of evaporation equals the rate of condensation?
The water level in an open container stays the same.
10. What is the difference between evaporation and boiling?
Evaporation occurs only at the surface, whereas boiling occurs throughout a
liquid.
11. Why does the temperature at which a liquid boils depend on atmosphere pressure?
Atmospheric pressure tends to squash vapor bubbles.
12. Why is a pressure cooker even more useful when cooking food in the mountains
than when cooking at sea level?
It provides pressure in a lower pressure
region, thereby raising the temperature.
13. Why does antifreeze or any soluble substance put in water lower its freezing
temperature?
It inhibits the formation of the hexagonal ice structure.
14. How can water be made to both boil and freeze at the same time? Reduce the
pressure drastically.
15. What is regulation, and what does it have to do with the open-structure crystals in
ice?
Melting under pressure; the pressure crushes open ice crystals.
16. a. How many calories are needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by
1C? 1 calorie
17. Does vapor give off or absorb energy when it turns into a liquid? Gives off
energy.

18. What is the effect of rapid evaporation on the temperature of water?

It causes a reeducation of temperature.
19. In a refrigerator, does the food cool when a vapor turns to a liquid, or vice versa?
When liquid turns to vapor.
20. Why is it important that a finger be wet before it is touched briefly to a hot clothes
iron? The energy that could cause a burn will be reduced by the energy that
causes a phase change of the water.

Plug and Chug

21. Calculate the energy (in calories) absorbed by 20 grams of water that warms from
30C to 90C.
Q= mcT= (20 g) x (1 cal/gC) (90C-30C)= 1200 cal
22. Calculate the energy needed to heat 100 grams of 1C water to 31C.
Q= mcT= (100g)(1cal/gC)x (30C)= 3,000 cal
23. Calculate the energy released by 20 grams of 90C water that cools to 10C.
Q= mcT= (20 g)(1 cal/gC) x (80C)= 1,600 cal

Think and Explain (Extra Credit)

24. a. Evaporation is a cooling process. What cools and what warms during
evaporation? b. Condensation is a warming process. What warms and what cools
during condensation? a. Water cools and the environment warms; b. water
warms and the environment cools.
25. You can determine wind direction if you wet your finger and hold it up into the
air. Explain. Moisture from the side of the finger in the wind more readily
evaporates, making that side of the finger cooler
26. Give two reasons why pouring a hot cup of coffee into a saucer results in faster
cooling. More surface area results in greater evaporation and will produce
more cooling. The saucer warms up by conduction and the coffee cools.
27. At a picnic, why would wrapping a bottle in a wet cloth be a better method of
cooling than placing the bottle in a bucket of cold water? The evaporation of
liquid from the cloth will decrease the temperature further.
28. Why is the constant temperature of boiling water on a hot stove evidence that
boiling is a cooling process/ (What would happen to its temperature if boiling
were not a cooling process? Heat input with no change in temperature
indicates that the heat energy is going into the change of phase from liquid to
water vapor, which leaves the liquid as steam.
29. Will potatoes boiling in a pot of water cook faster if the water is boiling
vigorously than if the water is boiling gently? No. The temperature of the water
is the same in both cases and is the factor that determines the cooking time.
30. People who live where snowfall is common will attest to the fact that air
temperatures are generally higher on snowy days than on clear days. Some
people get cause and effect mixed up when they say that snowfall cannot occur on
very cold days. Explain. In snowfall, H2O goes from vapor to solid and causes
the surrounding air to become warmer.
31. If a large tub of water is kept in a small unheated room, even on a very cold day
the temperature of the room will not go below 0 C. Why not? The continual

release of energy by the freezing water (80 cal/g) keeps the temperature of
the unheated room from going below 0C.
32. On cold winter days the windows of your warm home sometimes get wet on the
inside. Why is this so? Condensation of fast-moving water molecules occurs
on the cold surfaces of the windows.
33. On a clear night, why does more dew form in an open field than under a tree or
beneath a park bench? Trees and benches, etc., lower the net radiation of
Earth so those regions are warmer than open regions. Dew forms in the
cooler regions.