Form 3 Holiday Physics Assignment
1. Define specific latent heat of fusion of a substance
2. Distinguish between heat capacity and specific heat capacity of a
substance.
3. Give the property of water which makes it suitable for use as a
coolant in machines
4. Equal masses of water and paraffin are heated for same length of
time. The final temperature of paraffin was found to be greater than
the final temperature of water. Explain the observation.
5. A student states that when two bodies at different temperatures are
brought into contact the resulting rise of temperature in one will be
equal to the fall in temperature in the other. Give two reasons why
this statement is wrong
6. (i) Describe how you would attempt to measure the specific heat
capacity of aluminium by method of mixtures.
(ii) State one source of experimental error in this method.
(iii) Give one way you could take to reduce the magnitude of the
error you have mentioned.
7. In a domestic oil-fired boiler, 0.5kg of water flows through the boiler
every second. The water enters the boiler at a temperature of 300C
and leaves at a temperature of 700C, re-entering the boilers after
flowing around the radiators at 300C. 3.0x 107J of heat is given to
the water by each kilogram of oil burnt. The specific heat capacity of
water is 4200Jkg -1K-1
(i) Use the information above to calculate the energy absorbed by
the water every second as it passes through the boiler
(ii) Use the same information above to calculate the mass of oil
which would need to be burnt in order to provide this energy.
8. A hot-water tank for a house contains 150kg of water at 15 0C. the
tank itself has a heat capacity of 6000 JK -1. An immersion heater is
used to heat the water to 500c. the tank is well insulated and the
power of the heater is 2500W (specific heat capacity of water =4200
JKg-1K-1)
(i) Find the amount of heat transferred to the water
(ii) find how much heat is absorbed by the tank
(iii) Determine the time it will take the heater to raise temperature
to 500C.
1
9. A 250 g sample of a solid was heated steadily in a lagged colorimeter
of negligible mass. The observations were represented in a graph as
shown below.
10
8
Temp (0c)
6
D
4
20 40 60 80 100 120 140
2 B C
Time (s)
4
- 6
Time (s)
(i) Explain- the shape of the graph (3mks)
(ii) The solid requires 12.5J of energy to change its state. Calculate its
specific latent
- heat of fusion.
10. In an experiment to determine the specific latent heat of vaporization
of water, steam at 1000c was passed into water contained in a well-
lagged copper calorimeter. The following measurements were made:
Mass of calorimeter = 50g
Initial mass of water = 70g
Final mass of calorimeter + water + condensed
steam = 123g
Initial temperature of water = 5oc
Final temperature of mixture = 300C
(Specific heat capacity of water = 4200 J kg -1K and specific heat
capacity for copper = 390 J kg -1 K-1)
Determine the
a) Mass of condensed steam
b) Heat gained by the calorimeter and water
c) Given that L is the specific latent heat of evaporation of
steam
(i) Write an expression for the heat given out by steam
(ii) Determine the value of L.
11. An electric heater rated 6000W is used to heat 1kg of ice initially at
-100c until all the mass turns to steam. Given that
2
Latent heat of fusion = 334kJ kg -1
Specific heat capacity of ice = 2,260J kg -1 K -1
Specific heat capacity of water = 4, 200J kg-1 K-1
Latent heat of vaporization = 2, 260KJ kg -1 K -1
Calculate the minimum time required for this activity.
12. Figure shows the features of a domestic refrigerator. A volatile liquid
circulates the capillary tubes under the action of the compression
pump.
Double wall
Capillary tube
Warm air
in
Vapour
Freezing
compartment
Liquid
Freon
Compression
pump
Cooling
fins
Condenser
(i) State the reason for using a volatile liquid.
pipe
(ii) Explain how the volatile liquid is made to vaporize in the
cooling compartment and to condense in the cooling fins.
(iii) Explain how cooling takes place in the refrigerator.
(iv) What is the purpose of the double wall?
13. Figure below shows a block of ice with two heavy weights hanging such
that the copper wire / string connecting them passes over the block of
ice.
Ice block
Copper
wire Wooden support
Weights
(i) It is observed that the wire gradually cuts its way through the ice
block, but leaves it as one piece. Explain
3
(ii) What change would be observed if the copper wire used in the
experiment was replaced by a cotton thread. Explain your
answer.
14. An electrical heater is labelled 120W, 240V. Calculate;
a) The current through the heating element when the heater is on.
b) The resistance of the element used in the heater.
15. The graph below shows the variation of charge and time when the
capacitor is being discharged through a resistor.
140
120
100
80
Charge (C
60
C)
40
20
0 70
10 20 30 40 50 60 80 90 100
Time (s)
From the graph, determine:
(i) the quantity of charge at t = 34 seconds.
(ii) the amount of current flowing when the time is 20 seconds.
(iii) the initial charge.
b) State two factors affecting capacitance.
b) Two resistors 6 and 3 in parallel are connected in series to a 4
resistor and a cell of e.m.f 1.5v, and negligible internal resistance.
Calculate:
(i) the equivalent resistance of the circuit.
(ii) the current through each resistor.