Temperature changes and Specific heat Capacity

• Explain why people often install loft insulation before installing double glazing or cavity wall insulation.

  it is the cheapest and has the shortest payback time
• Name the process by which heat is transferred through the glass.

  Conduction
• Explain how heat is transferred through the glass.

  Atoms gain energy and collide with other atoms transferring energy to atoms
• Explain how the air cavity between the two walls reduces the heat transfer from the house.

  Air is a good insulator reducing heat transfer by conduction
• Give one reason why loft insulation is often fitted to an old house before double glazing or cavity wall insulation.

  Most cost effective
• The plastic foam reduces energy transfer by convection. Explain why

  Air is trapped and can’t circulate
• The plastic foam reduces energy transfer by convection. Explain why

  Less electricity needed from needed from power stations causes reductions in fossil fuels being burnt
• specific heat capacity

  the energy required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of a substance by one degree Kelvin
• Are heat and temperature the same thing?

  No, heat is the energy that flows as a result of a difference in temperature. We use the symbol Q for heat!
• If water has a higher specific heat than sand, which substance's temperature will rise the most if both substances have the same mass and thermal energy transferred?

  sand
• If water has a higher specific heat than sand, which substance's temperature will rise the least if both substances have the same mass and thermal energy transferred?

  water
• If 100 Joules of heat is transferred to 100 particles, what is the average kinetic energy of each particle?

  1 Joule
• If 100 Joules of heat is transferred to 50 particles, what is the average kinetic energy of each particle?

  2 Joules
• What is a measure of the total thermal energy in a substance?

  heat
• Why does the sand at a beach usually read a higher temperature than the water?

  sand has a lower specific heat capacity and thus changes it temperature more with a given heat input.
• What is another unit of energy other than Joules?

  the calorie
• Does fresh water or sea water have a lower specific heat capacity?

  sea water
• thermal conductivity


  the rate at which a substance transfers heat
• What does delta Q mean?

  The change in thermal energy
• What does delta T mean?

  The change in temperature
• What does c mean in the heat capacity equation?


  specific heat capacity of a substance
• if you touch two really hot objects that are the same temperature, the substance with higher thermal conductivity will

  feel "hotter"
• if you touch two really cold objects that are the same temperature, the substance with higher thermal conductivity will

  feel "colder"