Oxo AQA16 P2uu T801 Xxaann
Oxo AQA16 P2uu T801 Xxaann
Oxo AQA16 P2uu T801 Xxaann
Learning objectives
After completing this activity, you should be able to:
calculate specific heat capacity and apply your knowledge of specific heat
capacity to make predictions
apply what you know about thermal conductivity to analyse the structure of
buildings and analyse other situations
analyse data in terms of specific heat capacity
explain why the temperature of the Earth is increasing.
Safety
Wear goggles when heating. The heating equipment and water will get hot!
Take care. Allow all equipment to cool down before you move it. Check hazards
involved in heating a different liquid.
Take precautions not to injure yourself or others if you use a lamp to heat
the bottles.
Equipment
Part 1
400 cm3 beaker
Water
Thermometer
Stop clock
Tripod, gauze, heatproof mat, Bunsen burner or immersion heater and
power supply
A liquid that is not water
Part 2
Samples of materials found in building houses and insulating houses
Graph paper
Part 3
Two plastic bottles, each with the top quarter of the bottle removed
Two thermometers
Tape
Cardboard
Soil
Plastic wrap
Elastic bands
Access to direct sunlight or a lamp
Graph paper
Task
Part 1: Heating liquids
A Plan an investigation into how the volume of water in a beaker affects the time
it takes to raise the temperature of the water by 10 °C. You should include:
a a hypothesis
b a plan to collect precise and accurate data.
B Predict the shape of the graph that you will get when you plot your results.
C Carry out the investigation and plot the graph of results. Compare it to your
prediction.
2 Take two plastic bottles and fill the bottom of each with soil to a depth of
about 5 cm.
3 Tape a thermometer to the inside of each bottle, and tape a piece of card
over the bulb of the thermometer.
4 Cover one of the bottles with plastic wrap and secure it with an elastic band.
5 Read the temperature of the bottles each minute, or at longer time intervals if
you cannot see a temperature change.
6 Plot a graph of temperature against time. Plot a graph of temperature against
time. Plot the graphs for both bottles on the same axes so you can compare them.
Questions
Part 1: Heating liquids
1 aDescribe your plan in Part 1 of the Task to collect precise and accurate data.
(6 marks)
(1 mark)
2 aDescribe and explain the shape of your graph of time against volume of liquid.
(3 marks)
(1 mark)
c Explain why you might expect the time to be proportional to the volume of water.
(6 marks)
3 The specific heat capacity of water is 4200 J/kg °C. 100 cm3 of water has a
mass of 100 g. Use the equation below to calculate the energy transferred to
the water for each volume, and write your results in the table. (4 marks)
change in thermal energy (J) mass (kg) specific heat capacity (J/kg °C)
change in temperature (°C)
4 Use your answers to Question 3 to suggest and explain whether the energy
transferred to the water per second is constant.
(2 marks)
(1 mark)
b staying constant
(1 mark)
c decreasing.
(1 mark)
6 Explain why you can use a steel spoon to stir your tea, but it is safer to use a
wooden spoon to stir hot soup that you are making.
(4 marks)
7 A house owner researches the cost of some insulating materials, and the
money that she would save each year. Calculate the difference in payback
time if she insulates the loft with 200 mm insulation compared to 100 mm
insulation.
Area of loft space 100 m2
Cost of roll of 100 mm thick loft insulation that covers 8.3 m2 £20
Cost of putting the insulation into the loft £120
Savings per year £80 per 100 mm
(6 marks)
8 aLook at the graph that you plotted in Part 2 of the Task. Explain the different
uses of the materials in the table in terms of thermal conductivity.
(1 mark)
(2 marks)
(3 marks)
d Suggest why loft insulation is a popular choice for people who want to
reduce energy transfer from their home.
(3 marks)
e i Suggest why it is useful that the building materials have similar specific
heat capacities.
(2 marks)
(3 marks)
(1 mark)
10 Suggest how scientists measure the average ‘temperature change of the Earth’.
(3 marks)
11 Compare the energy transfers involved in keeping your house at the same
temperature with those involved in keeping the Earth at the same temperature.
(5 marks)
12 Look at the model of the Earth in Part 3 of the Task and your graph.
a Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the model.
(4 marks)
b Describe and explain the shape of the graph for each bottle.
(2 marks)
c Suggest how you could change the model to investigate the effect of
increasing levels of greenhouse gases.
(1 mark)
d Write down one reason why the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are increasing.
(1 mark)