Name:
Number
Date:
Test Date:
On this assessment, you will need to thoroughly understand the concept of heat transfer through convection,
conduction, and radiation. The test will consist of multiple choice questions, heat scenes, and short-answer (short
essay) questions. Answers will be available on Thursday. This study guide will be collected on Friday for a grade!!
The following questions will help you practice for the test.
Define conduction and give 3 examples.
Define convection and give 3 examples.
Define radiation and give 3 examples.
Define insulator and give 3 examples.
Go through the 10 questions below. The answer to each will be either conduction, convection, or radiation.
_________ 1. During the summer it’s cooler in the basement of your home than the upstairs.
_________ 2. You sit in front of a fireplace and feel the warmth coming from it.
_________ 3. Your feet burn when you walk barefoot on a black road on a hot summer day.
_________ 4. The reason why the black top is hot in the first place.
_________ 5. The handle of metal spatula gets hot while sitting in a hot skillet.
_________ 6. Eric the cat heats himself on a cold winter day by sitting on the hood of a warm engine.
_________ 7. The best place to put a heater is at floor level.
_________ 8. The red alcohol in a thermometer rises when the bulb of it is put in boiling water.
_________ 9. Sunlight is absorbed by the Earth after it has made a 100,000,000 mile journey through space.
_________ 10. Packing cans of soda in a cooler full of ice will cause them to become very cold.
Explain how all 3 methods are involved in the following example:
After turning on a lamp you put your hand over the bulb and feel heat.
In the evening, snow falls on a cement sidewalk and on a blacktop playground. Which surface will melt the snow
faster and why?
On a hot summer day, should you close all of the blinds and curtains in your home or leave them open? Why?
Explain how the following situation occurs using conduction, convection, and radiation: A pot of water boils on a
hot stove.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following is not a method of heat transfer?
a. Conduction
b. Convection
c. Condensation
d. Radiation
2. Heat transfer by conduction
a. is not possible from human beings to their environment.
b. does not occur from light bulbs they are too bright.
c. requires some sort of material to facilitate the heat transfer.
d. none of the above.
3. Which of the following is the best conductor of heat?
a. air
b. plastic
c. water
d. aluminum
4. Which of the following is the worst conductor of heat in the group?
a. air
b. a vacuum
c. plastic
d. aluminum
5. The fact that, in general, liquids and gases expand when heated gives rise to
a. convection currents in fluids due to changing masses.
b. convection currents in fluids due to changing densities.
c. heat transfer by conduction.
d. convection currents in fluids due to constant temperatures.
6. The main method of heat transfer that causes a pot of water to boil is
a. conduction.
b. convection.
c. radiation.
d. insulation.
7. The process by which a pot of water on your electric stove starts to heat is
a. conduction.
b. convection.
c. radiation.
d. evaporation.
8. This type of heat transfer can occur in a vacuum:
a. Conduction.
b. Convection.
c. Radiation.
d. Insulation
9. Heat transfer by radiation
a. is not possible from human beings to their environment.
b. does not occur from light bulbs they are too bright.
c. does not require any material between the radiator and the object receiving the radiation.
d. none of the above.
10. If a thermos bottle was not “silvered” on its surfaces, it would be able to transfer heat by
a. conduction.
b. radiation.
c. convection.
d. it would not be able to transfer heat at all.
11. How does the heat of the sun reach the earth’s atmosphere?
a. by conduction, convection and radiation
b. by convection and radiation
c. by conduction and convection
d. by radiation only
12. The transfer of heat by convection will only occur in
a. metals, like gold or copper
b. fluids, liquids or gases
c. space, a vacuum
d. small areas
13. Which of the following has thermal energy?
a. Both a piece of metal that feels hot and a piece of metal that feels cold
b. A piece of metal that feels hot but not a piece of metal that feels cold
c. A piece of metal that feels cold but not a piece of metal that feels hot
d. Neither a piece of metal that feels hot nor a piece of metal that feels cold
14. The temperature of a plastic cup is 70˚F. It is filled with water that is 40˚F. Which of the following
describes how thermal energy is transferred?
a. Thermal energy is transferred from the water to the cup until they are both at 45˚F.
b. Thermal energy is transferred from the cup to the water until they are both at 45˚F.
c. Thermal energy is transferred from the cup to the water until the cup is 60˚F and the water is
50˚F.
d. No thermal energy is transferred between the water to the cup so the cup will stay at 70˚F and
the water will stay at 40˚F.
15. A student is holding a cold piece of metal in her hand. While she is holding the piece of metal,
her hand gets colder. Does the piece of metal get warmer? Why or why not?
e. Yes, the piece of metal will get warmer because some cold is transferred from the metal to the
student’s hand.
f. Yes, the piece of metal will get warmer because some thermal energy is transferred from the
student’s hand to the metal.
g. No, the piece of metal will stay at the same temperature because an equal amount of thermal
energy and coldness is exchanged between the student’s hand and the metal.
h. No, the piece of metal will stay at the same temperature because neither thermal energy nor
coldness is transferred between the student’s hand and the metal.
15. A cook uses an iron frying pan to cook a meal. After cooking, he places the hot frying pan on the counter.
After a while, the frying pan, the counter, and the air in the room will be at the same temperature. Why?
a. Because thermal energy will be transferred from the frying pan to the counter and from the frying
pan to the air
b. Because coldness will be transferred from the counter to the frying pan and from the air to the
frying pan
c. Because thermal energy will be transferred from the frying pan to the counter and from the frying
pan to the air, and coldness will be transferred from the counter to the frying pan and from the
air to the frying pan
d. Because thermal energy will be transferred from the frying pan to the air,but thermal energy will
not be transferred from the frying pan to the counter.
16. Is energy being transferred in either of these situations? Consider the following situations:
i. Situation 1: A person touches a cold piece of metal.
ii. Situation 2: A lamp shines light on a table.
b. Energy is transferred in both situations.
c. Energy is NOT transferred in either situation.
d. Energy is transferred when a person touches a cold piece of metal, but energy is NOT transferred
when a lamp shines light on a table.
e. Energy is transferred when a lamp shines light on a table, but energy is NOT transferred when a
person touches a cold piece of metal.
17. A boy has two identical cookies except that one cookie is hot, and the other cookie is the same
temperature as the air in the room. He places both cookies on a cold plate. Which cookie will transfer
more thermal energy to the plate and why?
a. The hot cookie will transfer more thermal energy because only hot objects transfer thermal
energy.
b. The hot cookie will transfer more thermal energy because the temperature difference between
the hot cookie and the cold plate is bigger than the temperature difference between the cookie at
room temperature and the cold plate.
c. Both cookies transfer the same amount of thermal energy because they are both the same size,
and the amount of thermal energy transferred depends on size but not on temperature.
d. Neither cookie transfers thermal energy to the plate; instead, coldness is transferred from the
plate to the cookies.
18. A person takes an ice pack out
of the freezer and places it in a
small empty lunch box. The
person closes the lunch box.
Assume that no energy is
transferred into or out of the
lunch box when it is closed. The
following graph shows the
thermal energy of the ice pack
and the thermal energy of the
air in the lunchbox right after the person closes the box. The graph also shows the total amount of
thermal energy (the sum of the amounts of thermal energy of the ice pack and the air in the lunch box).
After a while, the ice pack will be warmer than it was at the beginning, and the air in the lunch box will be
cooler than it was at the beginning.
Which of the following graphs represents the thermal energy of the ice pack, the thermal energy of the
air, and the total amount of energy when the ice pack is warmer and the air is cooler? (Remember that no
energy is transferred into or out of the lunch box when it is closed.)