REVISION FOR TOPIC 3 : THERMAL PHYSICS.

1. Which one of the following correctly describes the changes, if any, of the kinetic energy and
the potential energy of the molecules of a liquid as it is boiling?

2. A fixed quantity of an ideal gas is compressed at constant temperature. The best explanation
for the increase in pressure is that the molecules

A. are moving faster.

B. are colliding more frequently with the container walls.
C. exert greater forces on each other.
D. are colliding more frequently with each other.

3. A metal ball at a temperature of 200°C is suspended in an evacuated container. The walls of

the container are kept at a constant temperature of 100°C.

Which one of the following statements about the temperature of the ball is correct?

A. It will eventually reach absolute zero.

B. It will remain constant at 200°C.
C. It will eventually become 100°C.
D. It will eventually reach a constant temperature between 200°C and 100°C.

4. Two bodies are brought into thermal contact with each other. No thermal energy transfer
takes place between the bodies. It may be deduced therefore, that the bodies must have the
same
A. specific heat capacity.
B. heat capacity.
C. temperature.
D. internal energy
5. An ideal gas is kept in a container of fixed volume at a temperature of 30°C and a pressure of
6.0 atm. The gas is heated at constant volume to a temperature of 330°C

The new pressure of the gas is about

A. 0.60atm. B. 3.0atm. C. 12atm. D. 66atm.

6. A liquid is heated in a well-insulated container. The power input to the liquid and its specific
heat capacity are known.
Which of the following quantities must be known in order to calculate the rate at which the
temperature increases?

A. The time for which the liquid is heated

B. The initial temperature of the liquid
C. The final temperature of the liquid
D. The mass of the liquid

7. A lump of ice at 0°C is placed into water at 0°C. Assuming that no thermal energy is lost to
the surroundings, which of the following statements is true regarding the melting of the ice
and the temperature change?

8. An isolated container is divided into two equal volumes by a partition. In each part of the
container there is an ideal gas. They have the same pressure P. The partition is removed.
Which of the following is the final pressure?

P 3P
A. B. P C. D. 2P
2 2
9. Carbon has a relative atomic mass of 12 and oxygen has a relative atomic mass of 16. A
sample of 6g of carbon has twice as many atoms as

A. 32 g of oxygen.
B. 8 g of oxygen.
C. 4 g of oxygen.
D. 3 g of oxygen.

10. Tanya heats 100 g of a liquid with an electric heater which has a constant power output of
60W. After 100s the rise in temperature is 40K. The specific heat capacity of the liquid in Jkg –
1 –1
K is calculated from which of the following?

60 x 100 0.1 x 40
A. C.
0.1 x 40 60

60 x 0.1 60
B. D.
40 40

11. The behaviour of real gases is different from that predicted for ideal gases. Which of the
following statements about real gases is not correct?

A. Gas molecules have potential energy.

B. Forces between gas molecules are always negligible.
C. Gas molecules have volume.
D. Real gases can liquefy.

12. A system consists of an ice cube placed in a cup of water. The system is thermally insulated
from its surroundings. The water is originally at 20°C. Which graph best shows the variation
of total internal energy U of the system with time t  ?
13. An ice cube and an iceberg are both at a temperature of 0°C. Which of the following is a
correct comparison of the average random kinetic energy and the total kinetic energy of the
molecules of the ice cube and the iceberg?

14. The graph shows the variation with absolute temperature T of the pressure p of a fixed mass
of an ideal gas.

Which of the following is correct concerning the volume and the density of the gas?

15. Which of the following is equivalent to a temperature of 350K?

A. –  623°C B. –77°C C. +77°C D. +623°C

16. The molar mass of magnesium is 24 g. 12g of magnesium contains the same number of
particles as

A. 6 g of carbon-12.
B. 12 g of carbon-12.
C. 24 g of carbon-12.
D. 6.02×1023 g of carbon-12.
17. A fixed mass of an ideal gas is at temperature T. The pressure is doubled and the volume is
halved. What is the temperature after these changes?

T
A. B. T C. 2T D. 4T
2

18. The internal energy of any substance is made up of the

A. total random kinetic and potential energy of its molecules.

B. total potential energy of its molecules.
C. total random kinetic energy of its molecules.
D. total vibrational energy of its molecules.

19. Energy is supplied at a constant rate to a fixed mass of a solid substance until it starts to boil.
The graph shows how its temperature T varies with time t.

specific latent heat of fusion

What is the value of the ratio ?
specific heat capacity of substance∈the liquid state

A. 20K B. 30K C. 40K D. 50K

20. A large mass M of ice of specific latent heat L is at its melting point (0 C° ). A small mass m of
water at θ °C is poured on to the block of ice. The specific heat capacity of water is S. Which
one of the following is a correct expression for the mass of ice melted?

mL mSθ MSθ ML
A. B. C. D.
Sθ L L Sθ