Factors Affecting Thermal Energy

Scientists can help people save energy in their homes by making better materials for insulation.

Good insulation should keep heat inside

outside

the house during cold weather and keep heat inside

outside

the house during hot weather.

• inside inside

• outside outside

• inside outside

• outside inside

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NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

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Shane is building a bench. He lives in a very hot climate, so he wants to build the bench out of material that does not conduct heat.

In order to keep the bench from conducting heat, Shane could build it out of _______.

• aluminum

• wood

• copper

• iron

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NGSS.MS-PS3-3

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Clothing acts as insulation to keep body heat in. Bryan wants to know whether a wool sock or a cotton sock will be better at keeping heat in. He puts the wool sock around cup 1 and the cotton sock around cup 2 and then fills both cups with hot water.

• measure the temperature of each sock by itself

• measure which cup of water stays hot the longest

• measure how long it takes to drink the water

• measure the temperature of the air

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NGSS.MS-PS3-3

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Natural disasters can cause both immediate and long-term issues. For example, flooding is an immediate threat with dangerous high waters, and it can also cause an area to lose electricity for extended periods of time. To combat this, engineers have designed boxes that can keep food cool when there is no electricity for refrigeration.

• The boxes must maximize thermal energy transfer to prevent thermal energy from transferring out of the boxes.

• The boxes must maximize thermal energy transfer to prevent thermal energy from transferring into the boxes.

• The boxes must minimize thermal energy transfer to prevent thermal energy from transferring into the boxes.

• The boxes must minimize thermal energy transfer to prevent thermal energy from transferring out of the boxes.

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Sandy has just made a pitcher of hot tea. She pours the tea into a cup and picks it up. The cup acts as an insulator, so Sandy can pick up the cup even though the liquid inside is hot.

• Wood

• Plastic

• Glass

• All of these

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS3-3

When a computer is on, the central processing unit (CPU) can be damaged if it becomes too hot. To prevent the CPU from overheating, it is connected to a device called a heat sink. The image below shows a heat sink made of copper bars and aluminum sheets. Air is pulled between the aluminum sheets using a fan.

• The combined weight of the CPU and heat sink must be minimized.

• The density of the heat sink must be maximized to reduce the amount of space it needs.

• The heat sink must maximize the transfer of thermal energy out of the CPU.

• The reflection of light from the CPU and the heat sink must be minimized.

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To make sure his pot cooks food evenly, he should choose a material for the body of the pot that would minimize

maximize

heat transfer along the bottom of the pot. To keep from burning his hands, he should choose a material for the handle that would minimize

maximize

heat transfer from the body of the pot to its handle. The melting point of the handle

the pot bottom

the entire pot

should be high.

• Maximize minimize hole pot

• fds

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NGSS.MS-PS3-3

A teacher told his class that later in the school year they would test a student-designed solar cooker. The solar cooker should meet the following criteria and constraints:

It should be able to evenly heat up three large pizzas around midday within a one-hour class period. It should be able to keep three large pizzas warm after they are cooked and ready to be brought back to class.

The students were divided into four groups. Each group designed a small prototype of the solar cooker.

Two groups made a Greenhouse Design solar cooker, while the two other groups made a Reflection Design solar cooker as shown in the diagram below.

• It should preserve heat like Group C's design and have the cardboard thickness of Group D's design.

• It should heat as quickly as Group A's design and preserve heat like Group B's design.

• It should heat as quickly as Group D's design and have an oven depth of Group C's design.

• It should preserve heat like Group A's design and heat as quickly as Group B's design.

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The students were divided into four groups. Each group designed a small prototype of the large container and poured 150 mL of hot chocolate in it for testing. The table below shows the details of each container.

• preserves heat like Group C's design and is as inexpensive as Group D's design

• preserves heat like Group A's design and has an outer surface that is as cool as Group B's design

• has an outer surface that is as cool as Group C's design and preserves heat like Group A's design

• has an outer surface that is as cool as Group B's design and is as inexpensive as Group D's design

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Tony wants to figure out which materials conduct heat better than others. To do this, he fills cups that are made out of different materials with equal amounts of ice water. He then keeps track of how much time it takes the ice to completely melt in each cup. His results are below.

• aluminum

• glass

• plastic

• foam

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NGSS.MS-PS3-3

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