Thermal Energy Conductivity

Discover #2
 Assignment Title

Name: Date: Class:

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1. Highlight the correct words to make a complete sentence.

The (specific heat/mass) of a material is how much energy you need

to (increase/decrease) the

temperature of the material. Materials

that do not need a lot of

(energy/matter) to increase their

temperature have a (specific

heat/mass) that is (low/high). 

2. Imagine you are cooking and need to stir a pot of boiling soup.
Which type of spoon would be best to use so that you do not get
burned by the heat from the soup?

a metal spoon a wooden spoon

Explain your choice.

I would choose a wooden spoon because it needs high specific heat so it takes more time to heat
up than the metal spoon so it will stay at room temperature for a longer period of time.

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 Assignment Title

Name: Date: Class:

____________________________________________________________________________
3. Look at the pictures. Classify each picture as having low specific
heat or high specific heat. You can drag and drop each picture to a
box in the table below.

Low Specific Heat High Specific Heat

4. Read then answer the questions.

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 Assignment Title

Name: Date: Class:

____________________________________________________________________________
Three friends are doing research about the best material to use for bowls of ice cream.
This is what each concludes from their findings:

Abir: A metal bowl would be best for holding ice

cream because it has a low specific heat. Heat will
pass quickly through the bowl and won’t have time
to melt the ice cream. 

Samah: A Styrofoam bowl would be best for

holding ice cream because it has a high specific
heat. The bowl will not increase in temperature
easily, so it will keep the ice cream cold longer.  

Farah: A paper bowl would be best for holding ice

cream because it has a specific heat between
metal and Styrofoam. The bowl will not increase in
temperature easily but will let heat pass through
quickly.

Who do you agree with? ___samah________________

Explain why.
because styrofoam has high specific heat and will not get cold easily so it
keeps the ice cream cold for a long time.

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