KS3 Science

Independent Learning
Booklets

Heating and Cooling

If you have internet at home, you can use bitesize to help you with some of the activities.
Try your hardest to work through the booklets
Heating and temperature

Temperature

The temperature of an object is to do with how hot or cold it is, measured in degrees Celsius. Note that the
unit of temperature is written as °C, (not °c or oC).

A thermometer is used to measure the temperature of an object

All objects contain internal energy. Some of this is due to the movement of the particles in the object.
When an object is heated, its particles move more vigorously and its internal energy increases. Unless the
object changes state (eg melts or boils), its temperature will increase.

Example 1

A swimming pool at 30°C is at a lower temperature than a cup of tea at 80°C. But the swimming pool
contains more water, so it stores more internal energy than the cup of tea.

Example 2

To boil water we must increase its temperature to 100°C. It takes longer to boil a large beaker of water
than a small beaker. This is because the large beaker contains more water and needs to gain more internal
energy to reach 100°C.

When heated, the temperature of a small beaker of water will increase faster than the temperature of a
large beaker of water

Thermal equilibrium

If there is a difference in temperature between two objects, energy is transferred from the hotter object to
the cooler one. This will continue until both objects are at the same temperature. When they are at the
same temperature, we say that they are in thermal equilibrium, and there is no overall transfer of energy
any more between the two objects.
 Energy can be transferred from a hot object to a cooler one by:

• conduction (if they are touching each other)

• convection
• radiation
Conduction

When a substance is heated, its particles gain internal energy and move more vigorously. The particles
bump into nearby particles and make them vibrate more. This passes internal energy through the
substance by conduction, from the hot end to the cold end.

A Bunsen burner flame heats the metal rod

The atoms in the rod increase in internal energy

The increased vibrations spread form one atom to the

next, eventually increasing the temperature of the whole
rod.

This is how the handle of a metal spoon soon gets hot when the spoon is put into a hot drink.

• A substance that transfers energy easily from the hot part to the cold part is called a conductor. Metals
are good conductors.
• A substance that does not transfer energy easily from the hot part to the cold part is called an insulator.
Air and plastics are insulators.
 Convection

The particles in liquids and gases can move from place to place. Convection happens when particles with a
lot of thermal energy in a liquid or gas move, and take the place of particles with less thermal energy.
Thermal energy is transferred from hot places to cold places by convection.

As the hot air above a radiator rises it pushes cooler air away from it. The cooler air eventually circulates
back round to the radiator where it gets heated and the cycle continues.

Radiation

All objects transfer energy to their surroundings by infrared radiation. The hotter an object is, the more
infrared radiation it gives off.

No particles are involved in radiation, unlike conduction. This means that energy transfer by radiation can
work when objects are not touching, even in space:

• radiation is why we are warmed by the Sun, even though it is millions of kilometres away in space
• infrared cameras give images even in the dark, because they are detecting infrared light, not visible light

In this thermogram of a pan on a stove, the hottest parts are coloured white, yellow or red; the coldest
parts are coloured purple or black
 Insulation

Take a look at this thermogram of a house. Its roof and windows are the hottest, showing that most energy
is lost from the house that way.

A thermogram of house, showing areas of heat loss

Energy is transferred from warm homes to the outside by:

• conduction through the walls, floor, roof and windows

• radiation from the walls, roof and windows
Ways to reduce energy transfer

There are some simple ways to reduce energy transfers from a house, including fitting:

• carpets and curtains

• reflective foil on the inside walls
• double glazing
Double glazing involves having two panes of glass in the window instead of just one. There is air or an even
better insulator such as argon gas between the two panes of glass. This reduces energy transfer by
conduction.

Energy loss through walls can be reduced using cavity wall insulation. This involves blowing insulating
material into the gap between the outside wall and the inside wall to reduce conduction. Loft insulation
works in a similar way.
Activities
Task 1
This is called a mandala it is like a mind map for key words, you need to use the key words at the side and
sort them to the correct box. I have helped by doing a couple for you to help you. It helps to distinguish
between keywords that look the same but are different!
Task 2
Wordsearch find the keywords
Task 3
Complete the questions
Final Fun Task
See if you and someone at home can have a game of Heat (it is just like snakes and ladders the rules are
below and the board is on the next page. Have fun!!!!
The rules are pretty much like Snakes and Ladders.

Throw the die once. Player with highest score in one throw will be first.
Throw the die again and start.
Box number 3: The Convection Cloud
You are trapped in a liquid or gas that is heating up. The particles vibrate and separate,
making it less dense. Less dense fluids will rise and take you with them to box 13.
Box number 9: Conductivity
The particles of the solid are vibrating with the heat and transferring the heat energy from
one to the next. As they get gaps between them, the solid expands and drags you down to
box 2.
Boxes number 12 and 14: The Convection Cloud – Expansion
The hot particles are now far from the source of heat and have expanded to be far apart. As
they cool down, they get closer to each other and the fluid gets more dense. Therefore,
they start falling down again, and you fall to box 10 (from 12) or 6 (from 14).
Box number 17: Density
When something is cold, its particles are all close together and they do not move. There are
a lot of particles in a small space (high density). When the particles get hotter, they vibrate
and separate so there are less particles in a small space (less dense). Things that are less
dense rise, and you are risen to box 24.
Box number 19: Radiation
The third form of transferring heat is radiation. It does not involve particles moving, only
heat energy is sent across and transferred. The sun radiates its heat to box 21, and you go
there to keep warm.
Box number 20: Insulated box
An insulator is something that isolates from the environment and does not allow exchange
of heat in any direction. You are trapped in the box and your heat cannot escape. You miss
one turn.
Box number 24: Density (2)
When hot things start to cool down, their particles vibrate less and start to fall, so that they
accumulate in a smaller space (higher density). High density things drop down, and you are
dropping to box 17.