Chapter 13

Thermal Properties
of Materials
A2
Mr. Chong Kwai Kun

Learning Outcomes
Candidates should be able to:
(a) explain using a simple kinetic model for matter why
melting and boiling take place without a change in temperature
the specific latent heat of vaporisation is higher than specific latent heat of
fusion for the same substance
a cooling effect accompanies evaporation
(b) define and use the concept of specific heat capacity, and identify the main
principles of its determination by electrical methods
(c) define and use the concept of specific latent heat, and identify the main
principles of its determination by electrical methods
(d) relate a rise in temperature of a body to an increase in its internal energy
(e) show an understanding that internal energy is determined by the state of the
system and that it can be expressed as the sum of a random distribution of
kinetic and potential energies associated with the molecules of a system
(f) recall and use the first law of thermodynamics expressed in terms of the
increase in internal energy, the heating of the system and the work done on
the system.

CHAPTER
13.1

Specific Heat
Capacity

Heat Capacity (C)

Heat Capacity

- the amount of heat energy

required
to
raise
the
temperature of a body by 10C
(or 1 K).

Q
C

Q C

where Q = thermal energy absorbed

= change in temperature
SI unit is J K1 or J C1

Question 1

Question 2

Specific Heat Capacity (c)

Specific Heat
Capacity

- the amount of heat energy

required to raise the temp of 1
kg of a substance by 1 K.

Q
c
m

Q mc

where Q = thermal energy absorbed

= change in temperature

m = mass of substance
SI unit is J K1 kg1 or J C1 kg1

Question 3
What is the amount of heat required to raise the
temperature of 3 kg of iron from 20 0C to 800C
given that the specific heat capacity of iron is 460
J /(kg oC) ?

Q = mc
= 3kg x 460J/(kg oC) x (80 - 20)oC
= 82 800 J

Question 4

Specific Heat Capacity (c)

Some materials have a greater capacity for absorbing
heat than others. (for the same mass and rise in
temp)

Water has a specific heat

capacity of 4200 J/(kg oC)

Aluminium has a specific

heat capacity of 900J/(kg oC)

Specific Heat Capacity of some

substances
Material

Specific heat capacity/ J /(kg oC)

Aluminium
brass
glass
ice
iron
mercury
water
zinc
methylated spirit

900
380
670
2100
460
140

4200
390
2400

Applications of High
Specific Heat Capacity of
Water has a high specific
heat capacity.
Water

Water needs a lot of energy to warm it up.

Loss of a large amount of energy only causes small
rise in temperature of water.
Thus water used as circulating liquid in central heating
systems and car engines.
E.g. Hot water bottles to provide warmth.

Measuring specific heat capacity

Solid
Lagging = insulator e.g. wool

Measuring specific heat

capacity

Solid
Assuming no heat is lost to the surroundings,
Heat supplied by heater = Heat absorbed by solid

P t = mc

Measuring specific heat capacity

Liquid

calorimeter

Measuring specific heat

capacity

Liquid
Assuming no heat is lost to the surroundings,
Heat supplied by heater = Heat absorbed by
liquid + heat absorbed by calorimeter

P t = mlcl + mccc

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

CHAPTER
13.2

Specific
Latent Heat

Melting & Freezing

Melting

- a process whereby energy supplied

changes the state of a substance from
solid state to liquid state without a
change in temperature.

Notes:
Temperature at which this change of state occurs is
called the melting point of the substance.
Reverse process is freezing.

Freezing Point = Melting Point

Freezing point is used to differentiate the process of
freezing from melting.

Melting Point
Determined by plotting cooling curve shown below.

As liquid naphthalene cools it loses

thermal energy to the surroundings
and its temperature falls (curve AB).
Naphthalene begins to solidify.
Its temperature remains
constant (straight line BC) until
it completely solidified.

Melting Point
During melting, the heat energy is not used to
increase the temperature but rather to move the
molecules slightly further apart.
This means that the PE of the molecules increases.
Constant temperature means the average KE of the
molecules remains unchanged.
Energy that is absorbed without a change in
temperature is termed latent heat of fusion (melting)
of the substance.

Boiling
Boiling

- A process whereby energy supplied

changes the state of a substance from
liquid state to gaseous state without a
change in temperature.

Notes:
Temperature at which this change of state occurs is
called the boiling point of the substance.
Reverse process is condensation.
Boiling only happen when boiling point is reached.

Boiling Point
During boiling, the heat energy is not used to
increase the temperature but rather to do work:
1. to separate the molecules and
2. to push back on the surrounding atmosphere
Again constant temperature means the average KE
of the molecules remains unchanged.

Heating Curve of Water

Temperature will become constant when the water boils.
Energy gained without any rise in temperature is called
latent heat of vaporisation of water.

Cooling Curve of Benzene

Boiling point and melting point of benzene are 80 C
and 6 C respectively

Evaporation
1. The molecules of a liquid are always moving randomly
at different speeds.
2. At the liquid surface, those molecules which are more
energetic are able to overcome the attractive forces of
other molecules and escape into the atmosphere.
3. This process is known as evaporation.
4. Evaporation can happen at any temperature.
5. Evaporation occurs when faster-moving molecules
escape from attraction and leave surface of liquid.
6. After the faster molecules have left, the average kinetic
energy of the remaining molecules is lowered.
7. Since the temperature is directly proportional to the
average KE, therefore, the temperature drops.
8. Evaporation caused cooling effect.

Differences between Evaporation and Boiling

BOILING

EVAPORATION

Bubbles are formed

No bubbles are formed

Occurs within the

liquid

Occurs at the surface only

Occurs at a fixed
temperature

Occurs at any temperature

Temperature remains
constant

Accompanied by cooling

Source of energy
needed

Energy supplied by
surrounding

Specific Latent Heat of Fusion Lf

Specific Latent
Heat of Fusion

Notes:

or

- the amount of heat

energy required to change 1 kg
of the solid to liquid or vice
versa, without any change in
temperature.

Q
Lf
m

Q = m Lf

Q = heat
m = mass

Specific Latent Heat of Vaporisation L V

Specific
Latent Heat of
Vaporisation
Notes:

Hence,

- amount of heat energy

required to change 1 kg of the
liquid to vapour, or vice versa
without
any
change
in
temperature.

Q
LV
m

or Q mLV

SI Unit of Specific Latent Heat is

J / kg

Lf of ice = 3.4 x 105 J/kg

SOLID TO LIQUID:
1. Energy is needed to move the molecules slightly further
apart so that the attraction between the molecules is
weaker. Or energy is needed to break the intermolecular
bonds between the molecules of the solid.
2. Now the molecules can roll and slide over one another
instead of just vibrating about fixed positions.

Lv > L f
LIQUID TO GAS:
1. Energy is needed to separate the molecules against
their mutual attractions.
2. In addition, extra energy needed for the vapour to push
back on the surrounding atmosphere.
This is why Lv is much larger than Lf

Lv of water = 2.3 x 106 J/kg

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

Question 11

Question 12

Question 12 (Continued)

CHAPTER
13.3

Internal
Energy

Internal Energy
Internal
Energy

- is the combination of the total kinetic

energy and potential energy of the
molecules in the body.

Notes:
Includes kinetic and potential energy associated with
the random translational, rotational and vibrational
motion of the atoms or molecules
Also includes the intermolecular potential energy
Does not include macroscopic kinetic energy or
external potential energy

Internal Energy
Internal energy
components:

is

made

up

of

two

1. Kinetic energy due to the vibration of

the particles (directly related to the
temperature)
2. Potential energy due to the stretching
and compressing of the bonds.

Thermal Energy
Thermal energy:
the total energy of all the particles in a substance.

Thermal energy =

all kinetic energy

+
all potential energy

K.E: the energy of a particle due to its motion

P.E: the stored energy of an object or particle due to its
position or state

CHAPTER
13.4

First Law of
Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is the branch of
physics that is built upon the
fundamental laws that heat and work
obey.
The collection of objects on which
attention is being focused is called the
system, while everything else in the
environment
is
called
the
surroundings.

THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

The internal energy of a system changes due to heat and work:

U Q W
Heat is positive when the system gains heat and
negative when the system loses heat.
Work is negative when it is done by the system and
negative when it is done on the system.

Question 12
(a)

In part a of figure, the system gains 1500J of heat and

2200J of work is done by the system on its surroundings.

U Q W
U 1500 J 2200 J
U 700 J

Question 13
(b)

In part b, the system also gains 1500J of

heat, but 2200J of work is done on the
system.

U Q W
U 1500 J 2200 J
U 3700 J

Question 14
The temperature of three moles of a monatomic ideal gas is
reduced from 540K to 350K as 5500J of heat flows into the
gas.
Find (a) the change in internal energy and (b) the work done
by the gas.

U U f U i Q W

U 32 nRT

(a)

U 32 nRT f 32 nRTi

(b)

3
2

3.0 mol 8.31 J mol K 350 K 540 K 7100 J

W Q U 5500 J 7100 J 12600 J

4 types of thermal processes

An isobaric process is a process that occurs at
constant pressure.
An isochoric process is a process that occurs at
constant volume.
An isothermal process is a process that occurs at
constant temperature.
An adiabatic process is a process during which no
energy is transferred to or from the system as heatat.

isobaric process
An isobaric process is one that occurs at constant pressure.

W Fs P As PV
Isobaric process:

W PV

Question 15
One gram of water is placed in the
cylinder and the pressure is maintained
at 2.0x105Pa. The temperature of the
water is raised by 31oC. The water is in
the liquid phase and expands by the
small amount of 1.0x10-8m3.
Find the work done and the change in
internal energy.

Solution
W PV

2.0 105 Pa 1.0 10 8 m 3 0.0020J

U Q W 130 J 0.0020 J 130 J

Q mcT 0.0010 kg 4186 J kg C 31 C 130 J

Isochronic
isochoric: constant volume

U Q W Q

W 0
Why is work equal to 0 for an isochoric process?

Isothermal
ISOTHERMAL EXPANSION OR COMPRESSION

Isothermal expansion or
compression of an ideal
gas

Vf
W nRT ln
Vi

Question 16
Two moles of the monatomic gas argon expand isothermally
at 298K from and initial volume of 0.025m 3 to a final volume
of 0.050m3. Assuming that argon is an ideal gas, find
(a) the work done by the gas,
(b) the change in internal energy of the gas, and
(c) the heat supplied to the gas.

Solution

Vf
0.050 m 3
(a) W nRT ln
V 2.0 8.31 298 ln 0.025 m 3

i
(b)

U 32 nRT f 32 nRTi 0

(c)

U Q W
Q W 3400 J

3400 J

Adiabatic
ADIABATIC
EXPANSION
COMPRESSION
Adiabatic
expansion
compression of a monatomic
ideal gas

OR

or

W nR T f Ti
3
2

Question 17
0.10 mol of a monoatomic gas follows the process shown in the
Figure, What is the total change in thermal energy of the gas?

Question 18

Question 18

Definition
The energy needed
to change a
substance from
solid to liquid
without a change in
temperature.
Latent
The energy needed
heat of
to change a
vaporisati substance from
on
liquid to gas
without a change in
temperature.
Specific
The amount of
latent
energy needed to
heat of
change a unit mass
fusion
of a substance from

Formul
a

Units

Latent
heat of
fusion

J kg-1

Definition
Formula
Specific
The amount of
latent
energy needed to
heat of
change a unit mass
fusion
of a substance from
solid to liquid
without a change in
temperature.
Specific
The amount of
latent
energy needed to
heat of
change a unit mass
vaporisati of a substance from
on
liquid to gas without
a change in
temperature.

Units

J kg-1

J kg-1