HEAT, SOUND, LIGHT &

WAVES
PHYSICS UNIT
Unit length: 5 weeks

Assessment
Summative:
Energy Transfer and Energy Waves Test – Week
1 Term 4
 INQUIRY QUESTIONS
Statement of Inquiry
Our understanding of Energy, explainable using Wave and Particle
Theory, allows applying science as a human endeavour to explore
solutions to global energy issues.
Type Inquiry Questions
Factual What is the best way to prevent energy
loss?
Factual How fast is the speed of sound?

Conceptual Can we ever be completely energy self-

sufficient?
Debateabl Can we ever be completely energy self-
e sufficient?
TOPIC 1: THERMAL ENERGY, HEAT
AND TEMPERATURE
STATES OF MATTER
PARTICLE THEORY
 Particle theory states:
All matter consists of many very small,
particles (atoms) which are constantly
vibrating, in a continual state of motion.
Matter is found in 3 main states: solids,
liquids and gases
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STATES OF MATTER
PARTICLE THEORY – HEAT
QUESTIONS
 What happens when you leave a metal spoon in
a pot for too long?
 What happens when you hold an ice cube in
your hand?
 What do you feel when you stand next to an
open fire?

 Why?
FORM YOUR OWN THEORY
Form a theory for what heat energy is and how it
works.
How does heat transfer?
Think about what you know:
- Particle Theory
- Heat and Temperature
- Every day Observations

Share your theory with the class – create one power

point slide to illustrate your theory.
THERMAL ENERGY

 Thermal energy: the energy in a

substance/object, due to the movement of the
particles inside the substance/object
 Heat describes the flow of thermal energy
 Heat ALWAYS flows from the hottest temperature
to the coldest temperature
HEAT OR TEMPERATURE?
 Heat is NOT the same as temperature
 Heat is a form of energy and describes the total energy of the
particles in an object
 For example: imagine two pots, both filled with water.
 Pot A has 2L of water at 100 degrees and Pot B has 1L of water
at 100 degrees
 Which pots particles have more heat energy (heat)?
HEAT OR TEMPERATURE?
 Which pots particles have more heat energy
(heat)?
 Since Pot A has double the amount of water,
then it has twice the amount of heat energy.
 Because the temperature is the same.
HEAT ENERGY
 Now imagine two pots
of water: X and Y
 Y has more water
than X
 If you apply the same
amount of heat
energy to both pots,
which will show the
greatest temperature
rise?
HEAT ENERGY
 Y has more water than X
 If you apply the same
amount of heat energy
to both pots, which will
show the greatest
temperature rise?
 Since pot Y has more
water, there are more
particles, so they absorb
less energy each.
 Pot X has less particles,
they absorb more, so
the temperature of pot X
will be higher
TEMPERATURE
 Temperature is a measure
of how hot or how cold
something is. Kinetic Energy:
The energy an object
 It is a measure of average or substance has
kinetic energy of the when it is moving
particles of what you are
measuring
Substance:
 Hotter substances have Any type of material,
particles with more energy or object.
Can be in solid, liquid
– moving faster or gas form.
 Cold substances have
particles with less energy –
moving slower
THERMOMETERS –
MEASURING TEMPERATURE

 Temperature is a measure of average

kinetic energy of the particles in a
substance
 It is measured in different ways:
 Thermoreceptors in our skin tell our brain how
hot or cold something is – but not an exact
measurement
 Thermometers give mostly accurate readings
of the temperature of a substance
THERMOMETERS –
MEASURING TEMPERATURE
 Thermometers contain a
liquid (alcohol or
mercury).
 The liquid expands
(grows) when heated and
contracts (shrinks) when
cooled
 This allows us to measure
the temperature of a
substance, by analysing
how much the liquid has
expanded or contracted.
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
 Thermal energy: the energy in a
substance/object, due to the movement
of the particles inside the
substance/object
 Heat: the flow of thermal energy
 Temperature: a measure of average
kinetic energy of the particles in a
substance
GLOSSARY TERMS

Kinetic Thermal
energy energy

Dissipati
on
REMEMBER…
Recall:
 Adding heat (energy) to a substance will
cause the particles to gain energy,
increasing their speed, resulting in an
increase in temperature
 Removing heat (energy) from a substance
will cause the particles to lose energy,
decreasing their speed, resulting in a
decrease in temperature
MOVEMENT OF PARTICLES
HEAT TRANSFER
 Heat flows from high temperature areas to low
temperature areas.
 As the temperature difference increases, so
does the flow of heat between substances
 For example: if two substances have a large
difference in temperature, the heat will flow fast
 There are three types of heat transfer:

CONDUCTION CONVECTIO RADIATIO

N N
CONDUCTION
 Hot substances have particles that are moving
and vibrating faster than cold substances
 If you place a metal spoon into a hot bowl of
soup, the fast-moving particles in the soup, will
make the particles in the spoon move faster too
 The vibration of particles is passed on from one
particle, to the particle next to it, to the particle
next to that one, and so on.
 This eventually caused the entire spoon to
become hot. This transfer of heat through
vibrating particles is known as conduction.
CONDUCTION
CONDUCTORS
 Substances and materials will differ in how well they conduct (transfer)
heat.
 Holding a metal cup with cold water will feel much colder than holding a
paper cup with the same temperature of cold water
 This is because heat will flow from your warm hand into the metal cup a
lot faster than it will flow into the paper cup
 Substances that transfer heat easily are called conductors.
 Metals are extremely good conductors of heat, such as silver, steel,
iron, aluminium
INSULATORS
 Plastic, air, cloth, wood, rubber and cardboard are BAD
conductors of heat and can even block heat transfer entirely.
 Substances and materials which are bad conductors of heat are
known as insulators.
 Usually, handles of pots and pans are made from insulating
materials, so people do not burn their hand
 Esky’s use insulating materials to keep the heat out – if they are
made with insulating materials, these materials will be bad at
transferring heat into the Esky – this keeps the inside cool.
 INSULATORS
 Gases are poor conductors of heat.
 Air that is trapped by woollen jumpers and blankets help to insulate
our bodies from losing heat
 If they are poor conductors of
heat – they will be bad at
transferring the heat out of our
bodies and into the cold air
(heat moves from hotter areas
to colder)
 Animals living in cold climates
have adaptations to help them
stay warm – they usually have
thick fur which are poor
conductors, preventing heat from
transferring out of their body
GLOSSARY TERMS

Conduct
Insulator
or
CONVECTION
 When air is heated up, the
particles in the gases gain
energy and move further
apart
 The hot air is less dense
than the cold air, so it is
pushed upwards by the
cooler air surrounding it
 This type of heat transfer
(or heat flow) is known as
convection
 The air flow that
convection creates is
called a convection current
CONVECTION
 Liquids and gases have
particles which move
around freely. Solids
have particles which are
mostly stuck in place.
 Heat is transferred by
convection more easily
in liquids and gases
because their particles
move around freely,
unlike those in a solid.
 Convection
also
explains
the sea
breeze
during the
CONVECTION

day and at
night
CONVECTION
RADIATION
 Radiation is the transfer of heat through invisible waves
that travel at the speed of light (300,000 km per second)
 Heat energy is transferred through infra-red radiation
 The hotter a substance is, the more heat it will radiate
 The burning of wood in a wood-fire radiates so much
heat energy, that you cannot sit too close to it
 Based on a substance’s material and colour, heat
transfer through radiation will either be:

ABSORBE REFLECTE TRANSMITTE

D D D
RADIATION
RADIATION

 What heats up faster in sunlight:

 Dark cars?
 Light cars?
 This happens because the dark-coloured objects
are good absorbers of radiation, but light-
coloured objects reflect much of the heat
RADIATION
SUMMARY
 Conduction: when there is a difference in
temperature, heat is transferred through a substance
by vibrating/colliding particles. Each particle gains
more energy from the particle next to it and it is
passed on, one-by-one (mostly for solids)
 Convection: heating liquids and gases will cause the
particles with higher temperature to rise and move
around, heating a substance or material through
convection currents (only for liquids and gases)
 Radiation: the transfer of heat through waves.
Radiation transfers heat in the form of absorption,
reflection or transmission