THERMAL PHYSICS

IGCSE – PHYSICS
Thermal Effects
• Particles in Solids, Liquids, and Gases
• Temperature and Thermometers
• Expansion of Solids and Liquids
• Heating Gases
• Thermal Conduction
• Convection
• Thermal Radiation
• Liquids and Vapours
• Specific Heat Capacity
• Latent Heat
Moving Particles
Solid
• Has fixed shape and volume.
• Its particles are held closely together by
strong forces of attraction (bonds). They
vibrate backwards and forwards but cannot
change position
Moving Particles
Liquid
• Has fixed volume but can flow to fill any shape.
• The particles are close together and attract each
other. But they vibrate so vigorously that the
attractions cannot hold them in fixed positions,
and they can move past each other
Moving Particles
Gas
• Has no fixed shape or volume and quickly fills
any space available.
• Its particles are well spaced out, and virtually
free of any attractions. They move about at
high speed, colliding with each other and the
walls of their container.
Moving Particles
What are the particles?
• Elements is made from about 100 simple
substances
• Atom is the smallest possible amount of an
element
• Molecules is groups of atoms
Moving Particles
Energy of particles
• The particles in solids, liquids, and gases have:
• kinetic energy because they are moving (energy because of motion
• Potential energy because their motion keeps them separated and opposes
the bonds trying to pull them together. Gas have the most potential energy
because they are furthest apart.
• Internal energy = kinetic energy + potential energy
• The hotter a material is, the faster its particles move, and the more internal
energy it has
• Heat
• Thermal energy = internal energy or heat
Moving Particles
Energy of particles
• The particles in solids, liquids, and gases have:
• kinetic energy because they are moving (energy because of motion
• Potential energy because their motion keeps them separated and opposes
the bonds trying to pull them together. Gas have the most potential energy
because they are furthest apart.
• Internal energy = kinetic energy + potential energy
• The hotter a material is, the faster its particles move, and the more internal
energy it has
• Heat
• Thermal energy = internal energy or heat
Moving Particles
Temperature
A temperature scale is a range of numbers for
measuring the level of hotness. Most of the times
we use Celcius degree to measure the level of
temperature.
Temperature
Objects at the same temperature have the
same average kinetic energy per particle.
The higher the temperature, the greater the
average kinetic energy per particle.

Temperature is not the same as heat. For

example, a spoonsful of boiling water has
exactly the same temperature (1000C) as a
saucepanful of boiling water, but you could
get far less thermal energy (heat) from it.
Temperature
Absolute Zero and the Kelvin scale
Absolute Zero
• As the temperature falls, the particles in a material lose kinetic energy
and move more and more slowly.
• At -2730C, they can go no slower
• They would have minimum energy possible, since the law of physics
do not allow particles to have zero energy.
Temperature
Temperature
Fixing a temperature scale
Two standard temperatures must be chosen:
• Lower fixed points  ice point (00C)  pure ice
• Upper fixed point  steam point (1000C)  boiling point
Temperature
Liquid-in-glass thermometers
Nearly all liquids expand slightly when heated. This
property is used in liquid-in-glass thermometers,
which are normally filled with alcohol or mercury.
• Sensitivity
Some thermometers are more sensitive to
temperature change than others. The narrower the
tube, the higher the sensitivity of the thermometer.
Temperature
Liquid-in-glass thermometers
• Range
• Responsiveness
Some thermometers respond more quickly to a
change in temperature than others. A thermometer
with a larger bulb, or thicker glass round the bulb, is
less responsive because it takes longer for the
alcohol or mercury to reach the temperature of the
surroundings.
Temperature
Liquid-in-glass thermometers
• Linearity
Although mercury and alcohol thermometers must
agree at the fixed points, they do not exactly agree
at the other temperatures. That is because the
expansion of one liquid is not quite linear compared
with the other. However, within the 0-100 0C, the
disagreement is very small.
Temperature
Thermal Expansion – Solid & Liquid
… the effect that increases the volume of a matter (solid, gas, and
liquid) due to the increase of thermal
• Happens when a matter is heated up
• Kinetic theory
Example,
A steel before it is
heated up and after
Thermal Expansion – Solid & Liquid
Example,
A steel before it is heated up and after
Steel is heated  particles speed up  their vibrations take up more
space  expanded
Thermal Expansion
Thermal Expansion – Solid & Liquid
Water and Ice – Exception. Why?
When hot water cools, it contracts, but when water freezes it expands
and turns into ice.
- In liquid, the particles are close together
- In ice, the molecules link up in a very open structures that actually
takes up more space than in liquid
Thermal Expansion – Gas
• Gas does not necessarily expand when heated  its volume depends
on the container it is in.
• 3 important factors when dealing with gas:
- Pressure
- Volume
- Temperature
• Depends on its circumstance, a change in pressure can cause a
change in volume or temperature or both, etc.
Thermal Expansion – Gas
• How pressure changes with temperature (at constant volume)
Thermal Expansion – Gas
• How volume changes with temperature (at
constant pressure)
When pressure is kept constant, then its
temperature and volume would be increased
Thermal Expansion – Gas
• Effect on volume of pressure (temperature is
constant) – Boyle’s law
Boyle’s law:
The pressure of a fixed mass of gas is inversely
proportional to its volume if its temperature is
kept constant
1 1
𝑝∝ or 𝑝 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 ×
𝑉 𝑉
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑝1 𝑉1 = 𝑝2 𝑉2
Thermal Expansion – Gas
The gas laws
1) Charles’ law – pressure is constant
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑛𝑅𝑇 (ideal gas law)  𝑛𝑅 is constant
𝑝𝑉 ∝ 𝑇
But, since pressure is constant:
𝑉 ∝ 𝑇 or 𝑉 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 × 𝑇
𝑉
= 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑇
𝑉1 𝑉2 Charles’ law:
= The volume of a fixed mass of gas is directly
𝑇1 𝑇2 proportional to its absolute temperature if
the pressure is kept constant
Thermal Expansion – Gas
The gas laws
2) Pressure law – volume is constant
𝑝∝𝑇
𝑝 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 × 𝑇
𝑝1 𝑝2
=
𝑇1 𝑇2

Pressure law:
The pressure of a fixed mass of gas is directly proportional to its
absolute temperature if the volume is kept consant.
Thermal Expansion – Gas
The gas laws
3) Boyle’s law – temperature is constant
1
𝑝∝
𝑉
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
Thermal Expansion – Gas
The gas laws
4) Combining the law
𝑝𝑉 ∝ 𝑇
𝑝𝑉
= 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑇
𝑝1 𝑉1 𝑝2 𝑉2
=
𝑇1 𝑇2
Thermal Expansion – Gas
Worked example
A bicycle pump contains 50cm3 of air at 170C and at 1 atm. Find the
pressure when the air is compressed to 10cm3 and its temperature
rises to 270C.
Answer
5.2 atm
Thermal Expansion – Gas
Thermal Expansion – Gas
Heat Transfers
• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation
Liquid & Vapors
• Evaporation
• Condensation
Specific Heat Capacity
When alcohol is burnt, its energy would be
transferred to the surrounding. We can
calculate the amount of heat transferred by
the alcohol to the surrounding, by using:

𝑞 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑇
𝑞 is heat transferred (J)
𝑚 is mass (kg)
𝑐 is specific heat capacity (J/kg0C or J/kg K)
∆𝑇 is temperature change (in 0C or in K)
Specific Heat Capacity
A water with the mass of 2 kg cools from
700C to 200C. If the specific heat capacity of
the water is 4200 J/kg0C. Calculate the total
of energy lost by water!

Answer
𝑞 = 2 × 4200 × (20 − 70)
𝑞 = 8400 × (−50)
𝑞 = −420 000 𝐽 (negative sign indicate that
water is loses its heat or energy)
Specific Heat Capacity
Specific heat capacity of several things:
Specific Heat Capacity
Thermal capacity (heat capacity):
It is the amount of energy (J) needed to
increase 10C of compound or mixture.

𝐶 =𝑚×𝑐
𝐶 is thermal capacity (J/0C)
𝑚 is mass
𝑐 is specific heat capacity
Specific Heat Capacity
Thermal capacity (heat capacity):
From the previous question
With the mass of 2 kg water, it means that:
𝐽
𝐶 = 2 𝑘𝑔 × 4200 0 = 8400 𝐽/0 𝐶
𝑘𝑔 𝐶
Or it means that it is needed 8400 J of
energy to increase 10C of water
Specific Heat Capacity
When alcohol is burnt, its energy is
transferred to water above it through heat.
If it is assumed that all heat is absorbed fully
by the water, we can calculate the amount
of heat transferred from the burning
alcohol.

𝑞𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙 = −(𝑚𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 × 𝑐𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 × ∆𝑇𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 )

Specific Heat Capacity
𝑞𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙 = −(𝑚𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 × 𝑐𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 × ∆𝑇𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 )

Example
Specific Heat Capacity
𝑞𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙 = −(𝑚𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 × 𝑐𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 × ∆𝑇𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 )

Example

It means that the total energy is lost from

ethanol is 16 400 J or simply -16 400 J
Specific Heat Capacity
Specific Heat Capacity
Linking the power and specific heat capacity:
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 =
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 = 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 × 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒

So,
𝑃 × 𝑡 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑇
𝑃 is power (Watt or J/s)
𝑡 is time (s)
Specific Heat Capacity
Specific Heat Capacity
Latent Heat
Water can be a solid (ice), a liquid, or a gas called water vapour (or steam).
There are its three phases, or states.

Latent heat of fusion:

It is the energy needed to separate the particles so that they can form the
liquid

If the liquid goes back to solid, it means that the energy is released.
Latent Heat
Latent heat of fusion:
Ice has a specific latent heat of fusion of 330 000 J/kg. It means that in
order to change each kilogram of ice, it needed 330 000 J.

Latent heat of vaporization:

It is energy needed to separate the particles so that they can form a
gas, but some required to push back the atmosphere as the gas forms.
Water has latent heat of vaporization of 2 300 000 J/kg.
Latent Heat
Therefore:

𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 = 𝑚𝐿

𝐿 is specific latent heat of fusion or vaporization (J/kg)

Latent Heat