Activity 1

Explaining hotness or coldness

Objective:

This first activity deals with one of the major effects of heat transfer, which is temperature change. You
will describe the hotness or coldness of an object in terms of its temperature. You will also compare the
changes in the temperature of water to determine the relationship between the amount of heat transferred and
the resulting temperature change.

Materials Needed:
3 identical containers (beaker)
thermometer
hot water
tap water (room temperature)
cold water

Procedure:
1. Half-fill the three containers with equal amount of cold water. Arrange them next to one another as shown in
Figure 1 below.

2. Place your finger for a while into any of the containers.

Try to recall your lesson on Heat Transfer in Grade 7 and answer the following questions:

Q1. What actually transferred when you dipped your finger into the water? In what direction did it
transfer?
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Q2. Was the water ‘hot’ or ‘cold’? Explain.

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Discuss your answers with the group. Try to estimate the temperature of the water in the containers.

3. Measure with a thermometer the temperature of the water in each container. Record your measurements in
the table below. (Note: The initial temperature of the water in each container should be the same as they come
from the same source.)
 Q3. How close is your estimated value to the measured temperature of the water?
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4. Add the same amount of hot water to container 1, tap water to container 2 and the same cold water to
container 3. Leave the containers for a while.

5. Dip your fingers again, this time into the three containers. Make sure that you do not dip the same finger into
the containers.

Q4. Which container feels ‘hottest’? Which container feels ‘coolest’?

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Q5. What do you think causes the difference in the hotness or coldness of the water inside the
containers?
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6. Measure and record the temperature of the water in all containers. Calculate the change in the temperature
of water in each container.

Q6. In which container(s) is heat transfer taking place? What evidence best supports your answer?
Within this container, which absorbs heat? Which gives off heat?
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Q7. In which container was there the greatest amount of heat transferred? What is the basis of your
answer?
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Q8. How are the amount of heat transferred and the change in temperature of water related?
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 Activity 2
Dye in water
Objective:

At the end of this activity, you should be able to explain the scattering of the dye in water at different
temperatures.

Materials Needed:
3 transparent containers
1 thermometer
3 plastic droppers
hot water
tap water (room temperature)
cold water
dye (Food color)

Procedure:
1. Fill the three containers separately with cold water, tap water, and hot water.

2. Measure the temperature of the water in each container. Record your measurements in the below.

3. With the dropper, place a drop of dye into the center of each container as shown in the figure below. (Note:
It is better if you place drops of dye into the three samples simultaneously.)

4. Carefully observe and compare the behavior of the dye in the three containers. Write down your
observations in table.

Q9. What similarities and differences did you observe when a drop of dye was added to each
container?
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 Q10. In which container did the dye scatter the fastest? In which did it scatter the slowest?
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Q11. How do you relate the temperature of the water to the rate of scattering of the dye?
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Q12. In which container are the particles of water moving fastest? In which container are the particles
moving slowest?
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Q13. How is temperature related to the speed of the particles?

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Q14. How is temperature related to the kinetic energy of particles?

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 Activity 3
Expansion of Wire Experiment
Objective:

The student must be able to relate the behavior of weights hanging on wire to expansion of wire.

Materials:

copper wire (around 2m long)

candles
meterstick
2 iron stands with clamps or rings
standard weight (or any mass around 500g)

Procedure:
1. Prepare the setup as shown below. Make sure that the ends of the copper wire are tied or clamped firmly.

2. Hang the weight in the middle of the wire.

3. Use the candles to warm the wire at different points.
4. Do this for 1 or 2 minutes and observe what will happen to the height of the weight.

Observation:
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 Activity 4
Comparing heat capacities

Objectives:
After performing this activity, you should be able to compare the heat capacities of the given liquid samples.

Materials:
2 identical small containers (each with 100mL of liquid sample)
2 identical large containers (large enough to accommodate the small containers)
2 thermometers
hot water
liquid samples: water, cooking oil
Note: Store the liquid samples in the same room to ensure that both are at room temperature when you do the
activity.

Procedure:
1. Pour 100mL of water into one of the small containers and the same amount of cooking oil into the other
container. Measure and record their initial temperature in the table below.

2. Place the small container with oil in a larger container with hot water. Make sure that the hot water does
not mix with the liquid sample.

3. Measure the time it takes for the oil to increase in temperature by 5°C. Example, if the initial
temperature of the liquid is 280C, takes the time it takes for the temperature to reach 330C. Record your
measured heating time in the table.

4. Do the same with the water sample. Make sure that the amount and temperature of the hot water is the
same for both samples. Record also your measurement in Table 4.

Q15. Which liquid requires more time to increase in temperature by 5 degrees?

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Q16. Which liquid requires more heat to increase in temperature by 5 degrees?

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Q17. Which liquid has a greater heat capacity?

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 Activity 5
What is the relationship between the mass of a material and the
amount of heat it can transfer?
Task:
In this activity, your group is assigned to plan and conduct a simple investigation to determine the relationship
between the mass of a material and the amount of heat that it can transfer. You need to gather and analyze
data to come up with answers to the question given above. Apply what you learned in grade 7 about doing
simple investigations.

1. Start with your group’s prediction below:

Prediction:
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2. Below are some guides to help you with your task.

a. What are your variables?

Independent variable:______________________________________________________________________
Dependent variable: _______________________________________________________________________
Controlled variable (constant): _______________________________________________________________

b. What materials are you going to use for your simple investigation?
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c. What quantities are you going to measure for your data?

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d. How are you going to analyze and present your quantities (data) to describe the relationship among the
variables?
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3. Write your step-by-step procedure. Let your teacher check your procedure first before you proceed.
Precautions should always be observed.
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4. Present your data systematically.

 Activity 6
What happens when ice melts?
Objective:
After this activity, you should be able to answer this question:
What happens to the temperature of water while changing from ice to liquid water?

Materials needed:
crushed ice
1 glass container
timer (stopwatch)
stirring rod

Procedure:
1. Put some crushed ice and a little cold water into the container.

2. Stir the contents of the container for few seconds; then, measure the temperature of the contents.

Avoid letting the thermometer touch the bottom of the container to ensure that you are actually measuring the
temperature of the water.

Record your temperature reading in the table below.

3. Repeat step 2 every 2 minutes. Make sure that you stir and measure exactly the same way each time.
Record each measurement in the table.

Q18. Why does the ice inside the container melt after sometime?
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4. Continue measuring until the ice has totally melted and even after it has already melted completely (around
4-6 minutes more).

5. Construct a temperature against time graph. Draw a smooth line that passes through almost all the points.
 Q19. Which is your dependent variable? Which is your independent variable? (Note that the
independent quantity is plotted along the X-axis while the dependent quantity is plotted along the Y-axis.
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Q20. Describe your graph.

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Q21. Describe the temperature of the water while the ice melting.
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Q22. Describe the temperature of the water after the ice has melted.
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 Activity 7
What happens to the temperature of water as it boils?

Materials:
beaker
stirrer
thermometer (can measure up to 100°C)
alcohol burner
water (hot water)
stand or tripod with wire gauze

Procedure:
1. Fill the beaker with 100 mL hot water and place it above the alcohol burner using the tripod with wire gauze.

2. Measure and record the temperature of the water every 2 minutes until it boils. Once the water starts to boil,
continue taking the temperature for 4-6 more minutes.

3. Plot the graph of temperature against time.

Q23. Describe and interpret your graph.

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Q24. What similarities and differences have you noticed between your graphs in Activity 6 and Activity
7?
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