Topic 8K (Energy transfers) - Practice Questions

1. The pictures shows a puddle of water in a road, after a rain shower.

a. During the day, the puddles dries up and disappears. This happens because the water particles
move from the puddle to the air. What process causes the water particles to move from the puddle to
the air? (1 mark)
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b. Describe one change in the weather that would cause the puddle to dry up faster. (1 mark)

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2. Diagram 1 shows the energy transferred per second from a badly insulated house on a cold day in
winter.

Diagram 1

a. State one way the people in this house can reduce the energy transferred from: (3 marks)

The window: _____________________________________________________________

Through the floor : _________________________________________________________

Through the roof: __________________________________________________________

b. When the inside of the house is at a constant temperature, the energy transferred from the heating
system to the inside of the house equals the energy transferred from the house to the outside.

Calculate, in kilowatts, the power of the heating system used to keep the inside of the house in
Diagram 1 at a constant temperature. 1 kilowatt (kW) = 1 kilojoule per second (kJ/s) (2 marks)

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 c. Diagram 2 shows how the walls of the house are constructed. Diagram 3 shows how the insulation
of the house could be improved by filling the air gaps between the 2 brick walls with plastic foam.

The plastic foam reduced energy transferred by convection. Explain why. (2 marks)

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3. The diagram below shows the particles in a liquid. The liquid is evaporating.

a. How can you tell from the diagram that the liquid is evaporating? (1 mark)

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b. The temperature of the liquid in the container decreases as the liquid evaporates. Explain why?
(2 mark)

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4. A wood burning stove like the one shown in the diagram is used to heat a
room.

The fire in the stove uses wood as a fuel. The fire heats the matt black
metal case of the stove.

a. The air next to the stove is heated by infrared radiation. How does the
design of the stove help to improve the rate of energy transfer by
infrared radiation? (1 mark)

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b. Burning 1 kg of wood transfers 15,000 kj of energy to the stove. The stove then transfers 13,500 kj
of energy to the room to heat it. Calculate the efficiency of the stove. Show your working (2 marks)

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 c. Some of the energy from the burning wood is wasted as the hot gases leave the chimney and warm
the air outside the house.

i. Name one other way energy is wasted by the stove. (1 mark)

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ii. Which energy transfer is taking place when the heat is transferred from the stove to the
chimney?
(1 mark)
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iii. Explain, in detail, how this type of energy transfer works. (3 marks)

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5. The diagram shows a metal pan being used to heat water.

a. How is energy from the gas flame being transferred through the metal pan? (1 mark)

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b. Explain, in terms of particles, the process of conduction through metals? (2 marks)

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6. The diagram shows a ski jacket that has been designed to keep a skier warm. The jacket is made from
layers of different materials.

a. The inner layer is shiny to reduce heat

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b. Why is the layer of fleece good at reducing the transfer of heat from a skier’s body? (2 marks)

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c. A student tested four different types of fleece, J, K, L and M, to find which would make the warmest
jacket. Each type of fleece was wrapped around a can which was then filled with hot water. The
temperature of the water was taken every two minutes for 20 minutes.

The graph shows the student’s results.

i.To be able to compare the results, it was important to use the same volume of water in each test.
Give one other variable that was the same in each test. (1 mark)

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ii. Look at the graph line for fleece J. Estimate what the temperature of the water in the can wrapped
in fleece K would be after 40 minutes.(1 mark)

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iii. Which type of fleece, J, K, L or M, should the student recommend to be used in the ski jacket?
Give a reason for your answer. (2 marks)

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7. A vacuum flask is designed to reduce the rate of heat transfer.

a. Complete the table to show which methods of heat transfer are reduced by
each of the features labelled in the diagram. The first row has been done for
you. (2 marks)

b. Explain why the vacuum between the glass walls of the flask reduces heat transfer by conduction
and convection. (2 marks)

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8. The Sankey diagrams below show the energy transfers in three different power stations.

Some of the statements below are true, and some are false.

Put a tick (✓) in the correct box after each statement. (3 marks)

9. A TV set uses 490 J of electrical energy. The TV produces 105 J of sound energy and 220 J of heat
energy. It also produces light energy.
 a. How much light energy is produced by the TV set? (1 mark)

_______________________ J

b. What are the useful and wasted energy transfers in this TV? (2 marks)

Useful ______________________________ Wasted ________________________________

c. A new television is designed to be more efficient. It uses 500 J of electrical energy to produce 120 J
of light energy and 180 J of sound energy. Calculate how efficient the new television is. (2 marks)

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10. In the UK, over 70% of the electricity is generated in power stations that burn fossil fuels.

a. Explain one effect that burning fossil fuels has on the environment. (1 mark)

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b. The table gives information about some ways of reducing the energy consumption in a house.

i. Which methods of reducing energy consumption is most effective over a 10 year period. You must
support your answer with calculations (Hint: payback time) (3 mark)

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11. Polar bears and reindeer are adapted to live in cold environments.

a. How does the white colour of the polar

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a. The hairs of a reindeer are hollow and have trapped air inside of them. How does this reduce heat
loss? (1 mark)

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