1. Mrs Tan wrapped a piece of white paper tightly around the center of a rod.

Half of the rod was made of iron and the other half was made of wood. Next, she heated the
paper with a flame. The diagram shows the observation she made at the end of the
experiment.

(a) The part of the paper which was covering the wood turned black but not the part
covering the iron. Explain this observation

(b) Mrs Ong used a portable barbecue pit to cook her sausage as shown below.

She noticed that the parts of her sausage that were in direct contact with the metal grilles
on the barbecue pit turned black after cooking. Give a reason of her observation.

2. In winter, houses are heated so that the indoor temperature is higher than the outdoor
temperature.
(a) When the window is made of single sheet glass, condensation takes place on the surface
of the glass facing indoors. Explain why this happens.

A double glass-window consists of 2 glass sheets separated by a layer of air as shown in the
diagram below. This is to prevent condensation on the surface of glass sheet B facing
indoors.

(b) Explain why double glass windows can prevent condensation on the surface of glass
sheet B facing indoors.

3. An equal amount of boiling water was poured into each of the two containers, A and B, of
similar shape and size as shown below. The containers were then tightly sealed and left in
the school field for an hour.
The table below shows the time the water in each container took to cool down to room
temperature.

Time taken to cool down to room

Container
temperature (min)

A 32

B 26

(a) Suggest why the water in the two containers took different lengths of time to cool down
to room temperature.

he experiment was repeated with a copper rod placed only in Container A as shown in the
diagram below.
The table below shows the time the water in each container took to cool down to room
temperature.

Time taken to cool down to room

Container
temperature (min)

A 18

B 26

(b) Explain why there was a difference in the time taken for the water in Container A to cool
down to room temperature.

c) How can we cause the temperature of the water in Container A to cool down to room
temperature even faster without making changes to the second set-up?

4. An experiment was carried out using different materials of equal thickness in 4 set-ups,
P, Q, R and S.

The temperature of water in each beaker was measured and recorded at regular intervals.
The results of the experiment are shown below.

             Temperature of water / °C

Time / min Set-up P Set-up Q Set-up R Set-up S

0 100 100 100 100

5 63 88 80 52
 10 45 77 73 43

15 32 72 69 37

20 25 69 60 33

Which is the best material you would use to transport ice cubes from your home to a
barbeque party?
A. P
B. Q
C. R
D. S
5. he diagram below shows a fire alarm circuit that operates by using a bimetallic strip.

The bimetallic strip in the above fire alarm is made by joining two layers of different
materials A and B as shown below.

When heated by a fire, the above bimetallic strip bends downwards to allow the metal
contacts to touch each other, closing the fire alarm circuit.
Based on the information above, which of the following about metals A and B is most likely
to be true when both metals gain the same amount of heat?

A. A expands more than B

B. B expands more than A
C. A expands as much as B
D. B contracts but A expands
6.  bimetallic strip is formed when 2 different metals are joined together. 4 metals were
used in different combinations to form 4 bimetallic strips. The diagrams below show how
each strip bent when heated.

Based on the information given above, which one of the following shows metals A, B, C and
D placed in the correct order?

Expands fastest -------------------> Expands slowest

(1) A B C D
 (2) D A B C

(3) C B A D

(4) D A C B

A. (1)
B. (2)
C. (3)
D. (4)

7. Peter set up an experiment as shown. He used a stopwatch to record the time taken for
the first pin to drop.

a) Arrange the pins in order, beginning with the pin that will drop first.

b) What conclusion could Peter draw from the experiment?

c) Peter repeated the experiment with a glass rod and recorded the time taken for the first
pin to drop. He compared the results with the first experiment. What was the aim of this
second experiment?
8. John was given four cups of water as shown below. Arrange the cups in descending order
in terms of the amount of heat they contain.
 A. B, D, A, C
B. C, D, A, B
C. C, A, D, B
D. none of the above
10. Rasheed heated 3 different rods of the same length on a hot plate as shown in the set
up below.

The temperature of each rod was monitored and noted. After a while, all 3 rods were
allowed to cool. Rasheed then noted the time taken for each rod to cool down and plotted
the followin graph.
a) Which rod is the best conductor of heat?
b) Describe the relationship between the increase in temperature and the time taken for the
rods to cool down.
10. Nadine wanted to find out how fast wax balls will melt when they were placed at
different points along a metal rod. The set up is shown below.

The graph below shows the time taken for the five idential wax balls to fall off the metal
rod.

With reference to the graph above, indicate the positions of the wax balls before they fall
off. Write the letters, B, C, D and E in the boxes provided. The first one, Wax A, has been
done for you.
11.

12. Explain each of the following:

(a) a chimney and fire help to ventilate a room.

(2)
(b) a glider is able to stay in the air.

(2)
(c) it is best to crawl along the floor in a smoke-filled room.

(2)
(d) people wear light coloured clothing in Summer.

(
(e) frost is more likely to form on a clear night than on one which is cloudy.
13. a. Explain why birds fluff up their feathers in cold weather.

(2)
b.Tramps will often wrap themselves in newspaper at night.
Why does this help them to keep warm?

(1)
c.Design an experiment or series of experiments to compare the insulating properties of feathers and of
newspaper. Mention the controls you would use to ensure that the experiments were fair

Answer

1. a) Iron is a better conductor of heat and it conducted heat away from the paper faster
than wood.

(b) The grills are made of a good conductor of heat and conducted heat from the flame to
the sausage more quickly. 

2. (a) Water vapour in the house condenses on the cool surface of the glass facing indoors.

(b) Air is a poor conductor of heat so it helps to reduce loss of heat.

3. (a) The material used to make container A was poorer conductor of heat than the
material used to made container B and the water lost heat faster.

(b) The copper rod which was a good conductor of heat helped to conduct heat away to the
surrounding thus cooling the water faster.

(c) By blowing at the water Container A.

4. Q

5. A

6. B

7. a) C D B A

b) The nearer the pin is to the candles, the faster it will drop.

c) To find out if the glass rod or the metal rod is a better conductor of heat.

8. C
9. a) Rod Z is the best conductor of heat.
b) The higher the increase in temperature, the faster the rods will cool down.
10.

11. The vacuum flask reduces energy transfer by having a vacuum between the hot liquid and the
surface. This reduces energy transfer by conduction because the liquid can't conduct heat through
the air. The silvered surfaces are used for the flask of the hot water as they are poor emitters of heat
radiation but mainly because they are good reflectors of heat radiation. This reduces energy transfer
by radiation. Furthermore, the use of the cap reduces the rate of energy transfer by convection and
radiation, trapping the heat inside the flask. The double wall insulation also reduces the rate of
energy transfer by conduction and radiation.

12.
(a) hot air rises up chimney
1
cool air comes into room to replace it
1

(b) hot air rises (thermals)

1
supports glider
1

(c) smoke is hot and rises

1
leaving cool air at bottom of room
1

(d) light colours reflect radiation

1
keeping person cool
1

(e) clouds insulate atmosphere

1
keep ground warmer
13. a) feathers trap more air
1
air is a good insulator
1

(b) newspaper also traps air

1

(c) points to include:

two similar containers

cover one in feathers
the other in newspaper
fill with hot water
same volume in each
approximately the same temperature
record temperature at regular intervals
for set period of time
plot graphs of temperature against time
compare rates of heat loss
8