(a) Consider a tile floor and a wooden floor both at the room temperature of

20 C.
(i) We feel differently when walking barefoot on the two types of floor. Which one feels cooler?
Explain briefly. (4 marks)
(ii) Two identical ice cubes are put respectively on the tile floor and the wooden floor. What will
happen? Explain briefly. (3 marks)
(b) A defrost tray is a metal plate that can defrost frozen food on it quickly. No heat source or
electricity is needed. Explain its working principle base on the phenomenon discussed in (a). (2 marks)
-- ans --
Solutions Marks
(a) (i) We feel the tile floor cooler than the wooden floor.
The floor is colder than our feet, so heat is transferred from our feet to the floor. 1A

1A
Tile is a better conductor of heat than wood, 1A
so it conducts the heat away from the feet faster. 1A
(ii) The floor is hotter than the ice cubes, so heat is transferred from the floor to the ice cubes.
Tile is a better conductor of heat than wood, so it conducts heat to the ice cubes faster.
As a result, the ice cube on the tile floor melts before the one on the wooden floor.
1A

1A

1A
(b) The plate is a very good heat conductor.
It conducts heat to the frozen food quickly to defrost the food. 1A
1A
-- ans end --
The figure below shows a paper hot pot. The pot is made of paper. It contains the soup and does not burn
when it is heated by a flame.

(Courtesy of TACO Huang  Flickr.com)

(a) Describe the heat transfer processes in heating up the soup in the paper pot.
(2 marks)
(b) Explain why the pot does not burn. It is known that paper will catch fire at a temperature around
230 C. (3 marks)
Solutions Marks
(a) Heat is transferred from the flame to the paper pot then to the soup by
conduction. 1A
Heat is transferred within the soup by convection. 1A
(b) The temperatures of the paper pot and the soup are about the same. 1A
The maximum temperature of the soup is around 100 C, 1A
so the temperature of the paper pot stays well below the temperature
that it will catch fire. 1A
-- ans end --
An electric kettle made of stainless steel is used to boil water. The water gets hot gradually.
(a) Name the main heat transfer process by which
(i) the water around the heating element gets hot, (1 mark)
(ii) the whole kettle of water gets hot,(1 mark)
(iii) the body of the kettle gets hot. (1 mark)
(b) Why does the water take a longer time to boil if it is not covered with a lid?
(4 marks)
(c) The outer surface of the kettle is polished shiny. How does this reduce its heat loss?
Solutions Marks
(a) (i) Conduction 1A
(ii) Convection 1A
(iii) Conduction 1A
(b) If the kettle is not covered, hot air will rise and escape from the kettle. 1A
This results in heat loss by convection. 1A
Also, water evaporates and becomes vapour. 1A
This takes away latent heat of vaporization from the water 1A
(c) The design reduces heat loss by radiation 1A
because a shiny surface is a poor radiator. 1A
-- ans end --
On a hot summer’s day, coastal wind often blow in form the sea. What causes the winds?
Name a good conductor of heat.
Name a good thermal insulator.
What is needed for heat to flow through a conductor.
Describe experiments to show that water is a bad conductor of heat.

Write a brief explanation of convection, using the terms expansion, density and gravity.