First Law of Thermodynamics

Which one of the following situations is described by the zeroth law of thermodynamics?

• An air conditioner transfers heat from the inside of a house to the outside of the house.

• A monatomic gas is held within a container that has a moveable piston. The gas absorbs heat from the surroundings and expands at constant pressure and temperature.

• A container with adiabatic walls holds boiling water. A thermometer is calibrated by inserting it into the boiling water and allowing it to reach thermal equilibrium with the water.

• A pot contains oil at 175 °C. When frozen sliced potatoes are dropped into the oil, heat is transferred from the oil to the potatoes.

• A physicist removes energy from a system in her laboratory until it reaches a temperature of 3 x 10^-10 K, a temperature very close to (but still greater than) absolute zero.

What does the heat capacity of an object measure?

• the amount of energy required to change the temperature of an object
• the total amount of energy an object can store
• the thermal potential energy of the object
• the amount of work done by the object
• the amount of energy required to melt a solid object

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS3-4

Why is water often used as a coolant in automobiles, other than the fact that it is abundant?

• Water expands very little as it is heated.
• The freezing temperature of water has a relatively large value.
• The specific heat of water is relatively small and its temperature can be rapidly decreased.
• The specific heat of water is relatively large and it can store a great deal of thermal energy.
• Water does not easily change into a gas.

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS3-4

Heat is added to a substance, but its temperature does not increase. Which one of the following statements provides the best explanation for this observation?

• The substance has unusual thermal properties.
• The substance must be cooler than its environment.
• The substance must be a gas.
• The substance must be an imperfect solid.
• The substance undergoes a change of phase.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-4

Complete the following statement: The first law of thermodynamics states that…

• the entropy of the universe is increasing.
• entropy is a function of the state of a system.
• heat is a form of energy.
• the change in the internal energy of a system is given by Q − W.
• two systems in thermal equilibrium with a third system are in equilibrium with each other.

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS3-1

When applying the first law of thermodynamics to a system, when is heat a positive quantity?

• when the system does work
• when the system has work done on it
• when the system absorbs heat
• when the system loses heat
• when no work is done either on the system or by the system

Which one of the following phrases correctly describes an adiabatic process?

• no loss of energy occurs
• no transfer of energy as heat
• no change in temperature occurs
• no change in system volume occurs
• no change in system pressure occurs

The product of the pressure and volume of a system  has the same SI units as which one of the following choices?

• force
• work
• acceleration
• momentum
• impulse