— Transfer of Thermal “This enapter is organised into the sections as follows: A. Conduction, Convection and Radiation 1B. Challenging Questions (a) Describe, in terms of particles and electecas, how energy i transfered inthe process of conduction ~ ©) wood, pI When heated, the wood particles nearer to the heat source increase their energy of vibrations, and pass this excess energy to the neighbouring molecules by increased wioration. 6) copper wire. PI When heated, the free electrons nearer to the heat source speed up and increase their collisions with the particles in the copper wire. ‘The increased particle vibration is passed along the wire This makes the copper particles further away vibrate more and the wire becomes hoiter. (by Explain why: 1. a.cooking pot may have a copper hase and 4 plastic handle it Copper material isa good conductor while plastic material tsa poor conductor of heat. (ii) wearing & few layers of T-shirt can keep you warm daring cold nights, m1 ‘The layers of T-shirt help trop air, which is a poor conductor. 6 Iman investigation to compare the thermal conductivity of four metals, Jocelyn coats the Four diffeveat ‘etal rods with a thin layer of wax, and attaches cach rod toa container of boiling Wate. cL _ agi (2) @ Whatean you deduce from Jucelyn’s ive Copper conducts heat the fastest. tion? m(Gi) Exphia your aasver. a The four metal red are heated up equal, but the wax on the copper rod melts more within « shorter time compared tothe remaining three metal rods. So more energy must dave been conducted by the copper tod to the wa ata faster rate (b) State what Jocelyn should do to ensure a fai test n her investigation, 1 1 She should coat each metal with same thickness of wax. ‘The metal rods used should be of equal size an length. ‘An unlit match stick is placed on top ofa lighted candle, The match bussts into flame because itis heated up aa ly by A convection, BL convection and tadinticn. © cond D__coraluetion, convection and rai A a B ian and convection. in tal beaker of waters heaied up by convectios. Why does the heaied water tise? ‘The water molecules expand and become less dense. ‘The water contracts and its density increases. The water expands andits dersity decreases. D__ The water expands and its density increases. 1s ‘The diagram below shows two vacuum Masks containing cold tea and hot tea respectively. (@) Inthe case ofthe het tea, draw the likely path of convection currentin the air in the container i (©). Explain why i is essential vo place a stopper over the ho! Lea to Keep i warm, bul NOL necessary to do for the cold tea t kesp cold fe Hot air heated by the hot tea will rise end escape into the air, to be replaced by cold air which sinks, cooling the hot tea by convection. However. cold air abore the cold tea has no tendency to rise due to its higher density than the bore. Hence cannot set up convection current. Cold tea isnot significantly warmed.10 Julius switches on his table lamp and settles dovin ty std for is Physics test. While he is at it, he notices that the paper on the pis-board above the table lamp fips away Grom the board, and remaits at {is position URL he switches of the table lamp. A Ke A wee () Whats the cause ofthis strange behaviour ofthe paper on the pin-bourd? 1 ‘The sable lamp heats up the air immediately above the lamp, causing the heated region above it ta expand. The heated air becomes less dense and rises. This upward movement of hat air flips the paper away from the pin-board () G_ Comment cn the difference in observation if Tuius’s table lamp has. silver. shiny shade, [1] Ee will take a slightly longer time for the paper to flip avay fromthe pin board. Gi) Explain your comment. Pl Shiny, silver surface i a poor radiator Hence it takes a longer time to heat up the layer of. air above it by radiation 11 (@) Describe, in terms of uid movement, how a heaker of water ishested up by coavestion. [4] = _When heated, water molecules will gain energy and move more vigorously and further apart = _Water expands, causing drop in its density. Heated water tives, 1 be replaced by colder water on the higher layer. The movement of water of due to density difference of the heated and cold water causes ‘convection current.(@) Explain why: (i) the heating elemeat ofthe electic ketle i placed a the bottom io -> meverient ot head water = meverent of old water ST satiate tase heats up he water “The water heated by the heating element wil expand and decrrase in density. The cooler cir will cause the heated water ta rise and be replaced by the coker water ne, resltig in convection current hence the water it heated up quickly Urplaced a the tp, the tp layer of hot water will nt be able to move down by convection, Land since water isa poor conductor of heat, water cannot be efficiently heated up. (Gi) the freezer compartment in retrigerwor is placed on tp. 2 Cooler: from the freezer compartment is denser. The cooler air wil tend to sink to the ower shelf and hence cools the food below the freezer compartment more efficiently than ‘ifthe freezer compartment is 1 be placed atthe bottom, A block ot head mica cols down by einiting A ullravotet rays 1 intra-red radiation neat waves Dest particles tet [isa vacuuim ask, which of the following ensigy transfers cannot be prevented? A Conduction and convection B Convection anu radia © Radiation D Coavestion ted14 A Vacuum flask has two shiny glass walls, The purpose of this Feature is to reduce energy loss by 1s 16 voee convection and conduction, conduction, radiation and convection, radiation, shiny ass walls Ip] As Mrs Lee’s stove has broken down, she is considering on heating up a small amount af water by filling a plastic bag with tap water and hanging it in a sunny place. What is the colour of the plastic bag she should use in order to heat up the bug of water in the shortest possible time?) ‘You may assume that Mrs Lee’s coloured plastic bags are made of the same material. A B c D ‘The diagram illustrates the structure of a solar panel used to heat water. cleat, colourless black blue any colour will produce the same heating effect Black plastic White plastic. Black painted copper Polished steel of the following materials would he the most suitable for the pips water pipes in solar pane! tel17 Kim Seng sets up the apparatus as shown in the diagram below to investigate thermal energy transfer. a palshea | black surface | codon con surface - thin aver af wax 2 thin ayer of wax (®)_ Kim Seng would like to gather reliable data on thermal energy transfer through this investigation. 1 State one action he can take ta enatte that the expetitene ix fat. Possible answers 1 _He can arrange the two surfaces to be of equal distance from the Bunsen flame. He should use identical material for the two surfaces, although one 10 be painted black. 3 The layer of wax use should be of equal thickness. The wooden cork used should be identical 5 __ The surface should have the same area. (b) States ‘The wooden cork attached to the dull, black surface will drop off fist explain Kim Seng’s obses tion when be lights the Bunsen flame. rey ‘The wooden cork: on the left gets heated! up faster by radiation, as dull black surface isa better absorber of thermal energy. GHEIOWB) chattenging Questions 1. The diagram shows a hot-water storage tank that Mr Tan has Built —(@) Using his Physics knowledge acquired while he was a young man, he gave the extetior of the storage tank a shiny, silver coat of paint State and explain whether Mr Tan has applied his Physics knowledge correctly here, 121 Mr Tan has applied his understanding of radiation correctly. As silver, shiny surface is a bad radiator, the thermal energy in the storage tank will take a longer time to be transferred ‘outwards. Hence water in the tank keeps warm longer. (The effect woutd have been better if he had painted the interior part silver as well.) (b) Me Tan realises that to conserve the energy in the storage tank, also needs to insulate the tank. @ Sug stone material he can use as insulator. uw Use fibre fill or styrofoam Gi) Explain your choice. i} Such materials are bad conductors. They reduce energy loss by conduction through layers of air trapped between the materials. (© However, Mr Tan makes a mistake in his design of the hot-water storage tank (i) Wentify his mistake. Explain the consequence of this mistake. I He places the heating element 100 high up in the storage tank. The water in the tank is mainly y heated up by conduction when heater is placed at this position. Since water is a bael conductor, it will take a very long time to heat up the whole tank. Gi) How can his mistake be corrected? mi He should lower the heating element to the bottom of the tank. Gil) Explain your answer t (ei). (31 With the heating element positioned at the bottom of the tank, the water at the bottom is heated up, expands and becomes less dense. The less dense water wild rise, and the denser, colder water will sink. In this wa} | convection cusrent can occur, heating the whole water tank quickly.