Thermal properties of matter

Specific heat capacity

​ Change of internal energy per unit mass for each unit change in its
temperature
​ Mass of object does not matter, same for every material
​ c = C / m = Q / mΔΘ
​ c = specific heat capacity, m = mass
Boiling and evaporation
​ Liquid have lower kinetic energy and move slower than gas
​ When particles at the surface of the liquid have enough kinetic
energy to break away and escape into the air
​ For evaporation, causes cooling since after the faster particles
escape, particles left have lower average kinetic energy and less
collisions to occur
​ Since less collisions occur, temperature drops slightly and so heat
transferred from surroundings to liquid
Factors that can affect rate of evaporation
​ Pressure
​ Higher pressure, lower evaporation
​ Higher the pressure, higher the KE, molecules at surface need
more KE to overcome force of attraction
​ Temperature
​ Higher temperature, higher evaporation
​ Higher the temperature, liquid collide more, KE increase faster
​ Humidity of air
​ Higher humidity, lower evaporation
​ More water vapour, more chance for condensation
​ Wind speed
​ Higher wind, higher evaporation
​ Removes liquid that just evaporated and air around it dryer
​ Surface area
​ Higher surface area, higher evaporation
​ More molecules in contact with surrounding air and more space
to escape from surface
​ Boiling point
​ Higher boiling point, lower evaporation
​ Higher boiling point, stronger attractive forces between
molecules and break apart less easily
Latent heat
​ Water melts and boils at a constant temperature in which the
temperature stays the same even though heat is being transferred
into it
​ The heat lost in between is because potential energy is being
transferred to it while kinetic energy remains unchanged
​ The way to measure the potential energy is through heat of fusion
​ Specific heat fusion is that but consistent for every material
​ l (specific latent heat of fusion) = L (specific heat of fusion) / m
(mass)