Physics HKCEE

Structured Questions on Heat

92 (4)

A student uses the experimental set-up shown in Figure 6 to find the specific heat capacity of a metal.
The cylindrical metal block is heated by an immersion heater of unknown power. The following results
are obtained :

Mass of metal block = 1 kg

Initial temperature of metal block = 29oC
Final temperature of metal block = 41oC
Energy supplied by the heater = 12300 J

(a) Describe, with the help of a diagram, a method to measure the energy supplied by the heater.
(4 marks)
(b) Calculate the specific heat capacity of the metal.
(2 marks)
(c) The value obtained in (b) is found to be higher than the actual specific heat capacity of the metal.
Suggest a reason for this and explain your answer briefly.
(3 marks)
(d) Suggest TWO improvements on the set-up to increase the accuracy of the experiment.
(3 marks)
(e) Is the above method suitable for finding the specific heat capacity of wood? Explain briefly.
(3 marks)
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93 (4)

A student performs an experiment to find the specific latent heat of vaporization of water. A beaker
containing water is placed on an electronic balance. The water is heated by a 100 W immersion heater,
which is immersed in the water such that it does not touch the beaker, as shown in Figure 5.

(a) It is found that there is a slight decrease in the mass of water in the beaker before the water boils.
Explain briefly in terms of molecular motion.
(3 marks)

(b) When the water boils, the reading of the balance is taken. After 240 s, the reading of the balance is
taken again. The following results are obtained :

Initial reading of the balance = 525.4 g

Final reading of the balance = 515.2 g

Calculate (i) the energy supplied by the heater in 240 s,

(ii) the specific latent heat of vaporization of water.
(4 marks)

(c) The value obtained in (b) (ii) is found to be higher than the actual specific latent heat of
vaporization of water. Suggest a reason for this and explain briefly.
(3 marks)

(d) If the student covers the beaker with a lid, how would the result of the experiment be affected?
Explain briefly.
(3 marks)

(e) Suggest TWO improvements on the set-up to increase the accuracy of the experiment.
(2 marks)
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94 (4)

A student uses the set-up shown in Figure 7 to study the relationship between the pressure and volume
of a fixed mass of gas at constant temperature. The piston is pushed in or pulled out to vary the volume
of gas and the corresponding pressure is measured by the Bourdon gauge.

(a) The following results are obtained in the experiment:

Pressure 80 100 120 140 160

P/kPa
Volume V/m3 2.60 x 10-4 2.10 x 10-4 1.75 x 10-4 1.50 x 10-4 1.31 x 10-4

Plot a graph of P against 1/V on graph paper, with P ranging from O to 160 kPa and 1/V ranging from
O to 8000 m-3.

What physical law is the student attempting to verify?

(5 marks)

(b) Should the rubber tubing be long or short ? Explain briefly.

State TWO other precautions that should be taken to improve the accuracy of the experiment.
(4 marks)

(b) Explain, in terms of the kinetic theory of gases, the increase in the pressure of the gas when the
volume decreases at a constant temperature.
(3 marks)
(d)

The student uses another set of apparatus as shown in Figure 8 to measure the volume of a
container. Initially the readings of the syringe and the gauge are 1.8 x 10-4 m3 and 100 kPa
respectively. The piston is then completely pushed in and the reading of the gauge becomes 210
kPa. Assuming that temperature remains unchanged, calculate the volume of the container.

(3 marks)
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95 (6)

Figure 13 shows a water heating system. The tank contains 15 kg of water. The heater is switched on
when the contacts are covered by water and the temperature of the water is below 45o C.

(a) The heater takes 5 minutes to raise the temperature of the water from 20o C to 450 C. The specific
heat capacity of water is 4200 J kg-1 K-1. Find
(i) the energy used to heat up the water,
(2 marks)
(ii) the output power of the heater.
(2 marks)
Physics HKCEE

97 (4)

A student uses the apparatus shown in Figure 5 to perform an experiment to measure the specific latent
heat of fusion of ice. He uses a joulemeter to measure the energy required to melt a certain amount of
ice.

(a) Draw a diagram to show how the apparatus can be set up for the experiment.
(3 marks)
(b) The following data are obtained in the experiment :

Initial joulemeter reading = 28 000 J

Final joulemeter reading = 40 400 J
Mass of water collected in the beaker = 0.045 kg.

Calculate the specific latent heat of fusion of ice.

(3 marks)
(b) Why should the ice used in the experiment be crushed ?
(2 marks)

(d) A teacher comments that the result of this' experiment is not accurate. She points out that a control
experiment is required in order to improve the accuracy of the experiment.

*(i)Describe how the control experiment can be set up and explain its function.
(5 marks)

(ii) After setting up the control experiment, the student repeats the above experiment. Would you
expect the specific latent heat of fusion obtained to be higher or lower than that obtained in (b)?
Explain your answer.
(2 marks)
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99 (2) 0.1 kg of melting ice is added to 0.5 kg of water at 30 C in a foam cup. Find the final
temperature of the mixture.

(Given: Specific heat capacity of water = 4200 J kg-1 K-1 ,

Specific latent heat of fusion of ice = 3.4 x 105 J kg-1.)
(4 marks)

99 (9)

David uses the set-up shown in Figure 10 to study the relationship between the pressure P and
temperature  of a fixed mass of gas inside a flask A. The following results are obtained :

Temperature /C 20 36 50 64 80 98
Pressure P/kPa 102 109 111 115 124 129

Table 2

(a) Using a scale of I cm to 10 kPa and I cm to 10*C, plot a graph of P against  on graph
paper, with P ranging from  to 200 kPa and  ranging from 0 to 100 C.
(4 marks)
(b) From the graph in (a), David concludes that

The pressure (in kPa) of the gas is directly proportional to its temperature (in C).

Comment on David's conclusion. (2 marks)

(c) State two precautions that should be taken to improve the accuracy of the experiment.
(2 marks)

*(d) Based on the kinetic theory, explain why the pressure of the gas increases with
temperature at a constant volume.
(4 marks)

(e) David uses a larger flask B to replace flask A and repeats the experiment. The volume of
flask B is twice that of A. Assume that the masses of the gas in both flasks are the same.

(i) Estimate the gas pressure in flask B at 0 C. (2 marks)

(ii) On the same graph in (a), draw the graph of P against  you expect to obtain in
this experiment. (1 mark)