Thermal Properties & Temperature (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Physics): Exam Questions

Exam code: 0625 & 0972

3 hours48 questions
11 mark

A substance is cooled. The graph below shows how its temperature changes over time.

q1-easy-mcq-2-2-thermal-properties-cie-igcse-physics

What is happening in the portion of the graph between X and Y?

  • The gas is cooling.

  • The liquid is freezing.

  • The gas is condensing.

  • The liquid is cooling.

21 mark

What are the upper and lower fixed points on a Celsius scale thermometer?

 

Upper

Lower

A

The boiling point of saturated salt solution.

The freezing point of salt-water

B

The normal temperature of the human body

The freezing point of salt-water

C

The boiling point of pure water

The freezing point of pure water

D

The boiling point of pure water

Absolute zero

    31 mark

    A substance, which is initially in its solid form, is heated at a constant rate.

    The graph shows how its temperature changes with time.

    q3-easy-mcq-2-2-thermal-properties-cie-igcse-physics

    Between which points is the substance partly a liquid and partly a gas?

    • V and W

    • W and X

    • X and Y

    • Y and Z

    41 mark

    Which statement best describes a metal experiencing thermal expansion?

    • The size of the metal atoms increases

    • The space between the metal atoms increases

    • The metal atoms change state

    • The metal atoms gain enough energy to overcome the intermolecular forces of attraction holding them in place

    51 mark

     A rise in temperature of a substance increases its

    • gravitational potential energy

    • specific heat capacity

    • mass

    • internal energy

    61 mark

    Below are four statements about evaporation. One of them is correct.

    Which statement is correct?

    • Evaporation cannot occur if a liquid’s temperature is too low.

    • Evaporation happens equally, in all directions, from all parts of a liquid.

    • Evaporation cannot occur if a liquid is very dense.

    • Evaporation causes the temperature of the evaporating liquid to decrease.

    71 mark

      A glass contains an iced drink on a warm and humid day. Water starts to form on the outside of the glass. 

    Line drawing of a transparent plastic cup with water droplets on the outside, filled halfway with liquid, representing condensation.

    What is the name of the effect by which the water forms?

    • condensation

    • conduction

    • convection

    • evaporation

    11 mark

    Wooden barrels are often reinforced by putting tight iron rings around them.

    q1-medium-mcq-2-2-thermal-properties-cie-igcse-physics

    What procedure would make it easier to get the iron ring onto the barrel?

    • Heating the barrel.

    • Cooling the iron ring.

    • Soaking the barrel in water.

    • Heating the iron ring.

    21 mark

    In order to calibrate a degrees Celsius thermometer, the lowest fixed point can be found by placing the thermometer in:

    • Melting ice with a large quantity of salt mixed in.

    • Pure distilled water.

    • Pure boiling water.

    • Pure melting ice.

    31 mark

    An iron cube is heated by a Bunsen burner.

    Which of its properties decreases?

    • Mass

    • Density

    • Volume

    • Internal energy

    41 mark

    A National Grid engineer connects an electrical cable between two pylons.

    The cable is a bit too tight.

    q4-medium-mcq-2-2-thermal-properties-cie-igcse-physics

    What could happen to the wire if the weather became very cold, and why?

     

    What could happen?

    Why?

    A

    The wire sags low

    It expands

    B

    The wire breaks

    It contracts

    C

    The wire breaks

    It becomes brittle

    D

    The wire’s resistance increases

    It contracts

      51 mark

      Internal energy is affected by two properties of the particles which make up a substance. 

      Identify the two properties.

      • Motion and position

      • Acceleration and mass

      • Specific heat capacity and volume

      • State of matter and potential energy

      61 mark

      The diagram shows four water molecules in a swimming pool. It also shows how much energy each molecule has.

      Which of the water molecules is most likely to evaporate from the liquid?

      q1-medium-mcq-2-1-simple-kinetic-cie-igcse-physics
      • Molecule A

      • Molecule B

      • Molecule C

      • Molecule D

      71 mark

      The water in outdoor swimming pools gradually evaporates.

      How does the process of evaporation affect the temperature of the water in the swimming pool and what is the effect on the average kinetic energy of the water molecules?

       

      Temperature

      Average kinetic energy per molecule

      A

      reduces

      reduces

      B

      stays the same

      stays the same

      C

      increases

      increases

      D

      reduces

      stays the same

        81 mark

        A glass bottle has a metal cap. The cap fits very tightly and is difficult to remove.

         The cap and the neck of the bottle are lowered into a bowl of hot water. The cap can be removed more easily. 

        What happens to allow the cap to be removed more easily from the bottle?

        •   The metal cap contracts.

        • The metal cap expands.

        •  The glass bottle contracts.

        • The glass bottle expands.

        91 mark

        Extended Tier Only

        Copper is a type of metal.

         A block of copper has a mass of 2.0 kg.

        The block of copper absorbs 12 000 J of thermal energy. 

        The specific heat capacity of copper is 385 J/(kg °C).

        What is the temperature rise of the copper?

        • 15.6 °C

        • 31.2 °C

        • 46.8 °C

        • 62.4 °C

        101 mark

        Extended Tier Only

        Which row about boiling and about evaporation is correct?  

         

        boiling

        evaporation

        A

        takes place only at the surface

        takes place only at the surface

        B

        takes place only at the surface

        takes place throughout the liquid

        C

        takes place throughout the liquid

        takes place only at the surface

        D

        takes place throughout the liquid

        takes place throughout the liquid

          111 mark

          Two thermometers, P and Q, give the same reading at room temperature. 

          The bulb of thermometer Q is wrapped in gauze and dipped in a beaker of water at room temperature. 

          Air at room temperature is blown over the two thermometer bulbs. 

          Which statement correctly describes and explains what happens?

          •  P reads higher than Q because bulb P absorbs energy from the air.

          • P reads higher than Q because water evaporates from the gauze and cools bulb Q.

          • P reads lower than Q because the wet gauze insulates bulb Q.

          •  P reads lower than Q because water evaporates from the gauze and warms bulb Q.

          121 mark

          What happens to the volumes of liquid metal and of solid metal when heated at constant pressure?

           

          volume of liquid metal

          volume of solid metal

          A

          decreases

          increases

          B

          decreases

          no change

          C

          increases

          increases

          D

          increases

          no change

            131 mark

             The diagram shows a liquid-in-glass thermometer.  

            Horizontal thermometer showing temperature around 15°C, marked with intervals from -10°C to 110°C. Mercury line extends slightly past 10°C.

            A student wishes to check the marking of the upper fixed point on this thermometer. 

            • Put the bulb in a beaker of boiling sea water.

            • Put the bulb in a beaker of boiling pure water.

            •  Put the bulb in a beaker of ice and salt.

            • Put the bulb in a beaker of pure melting ice

            141 mark

            Extended Tier Only

            Two open containers are filled with water at room temperature. The containers have different shapes. 

            Two containers: left is a shallow, wide dish labelled "container 1"; right is a taller, narrow cylinder labelled "container 2".

            From which container does the water evaporate at the greater rate and how can the rate of evaporation be increased? 

             

            container with the greater rate of evaporation

            how the rate of evaporation can be increased

            A

            1

            decrease the water temperature

            B

            1

            increase the water temperature

            C

            2

            decrease the water temperature

            D

            2

            increase the water temperature

              15
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              1 mark

              Which statements about evaporation of water are correct?

              1.  Evaporation causes the remaining liquid to cool.

              2. During evaporation, the more energetic particles escape from the surface of the liquid.

              3. Evaporation only happens at 100 °C.

              • 1, 2 and 3

              • 1 and 2 only

              • 1 and 3 only

              • 2 and 3 only 

              11 mark

              Extended tier only

              Which of the following statements defines the specific heat capacity of a substance?

              • The energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of a substance by 1℃.

              • The energy per ℃ required to raise the temperature of a substance.

              • The increase in length of 1kg of a substance when its temperature is increased by 1℃.

              • The energy required to change 1kg of a substance from a liquid to a gas.

              21 mark

              Drinks are often cooled by putting ice cubes into them.

              A delicious cocktail is initially at a temperature of 12℃, when a few ice cubes are put into the drink.

              q2-hard-mcq-2-2-thermal-properties-cie-igcse-physics

              After some time has passed, some of the ice has melted, and the temperature of the cocktail has dropped to 7 ℃.

              What is the temperature of the remaining, unmelted ice?

              • 7 ℃

              • 0 ℃

              • 5 ℃

              • 2 ℃

              31 mark

              Extended tier only

              A pan, containing 0.750 kg of water which is initially at 13 ℃ is heated by an electric hob. 35 kJ of thermal energy is put into the water and its temperature rises.

              You can assume that all the energy supplied by the hob goes into raising the temperature of the water.

              The specific heat capacity of water is 4200 J/kg ℃.

              To the nearest ℃, what is the final temperature of the water?

              • 24 ℃

              • 13 ℃

              • 19 ℃

              • 11 ℃

              41 mark

              Extended tier only

              Two beakers, X and Y, containing different liquids are heated by a student.

              Both beakers contain the same mass of liquid, and are heated using the same heater set to the same power.

              The graph shows how the temperature of each liquid changes with time.

              q4-hard-mcq-2-2-thermal-properties-cie-igcse-physics

              What conclusion can be correctly drawn from the graph?

              • X has a higher melting point than Y.

              • Y boils sooner than X.

              • X has a lower specific heat capacity than Y.

              • Y has a higher boiling point than X.

              51 mark

              Extended tier only

              Two metal cylinders, P and Q, are heated using an electric heater. Both of the cylinders receive exactly the same amount of thermal energy.

              The temperature of P increases by a smaller amount than the temperature of Q.

              What conclusion can be drawn?

              • P is a better thermal conductor.

              • Q is a better thermal conductor.

              • P has a higher thermal capacity.

              • Q has a higher thermal capacity.

              61 mark

              Extended tier only

              A student takes two blocks, block 1 and block 2, of different metals and heats them until the temperature of both has risen by 20℃.

              She then leaves both blocks on the desk to cool.

              Block 2 has a greater thermal capacity than block 1.

              Which of the blocks loses more energy as it cools to room temperature, and which of the blocks required more energy to raise its temperature by 20℃?

               

              Lost more energy when cooling

              Required more energy to heat up.

              A

              block 1

              block 1

              B

              block 1

              block 2

              C

              block 2

              block 1

              D

              block 2

              block 2

                71 mark

                Extended tier only

                In a children’s experiment, a saucer of water is left outside to evaporate.

                Which row shows weather conditions that will each cause the rate of evaporation from the saucer to increase?

                 

                Temperature

                Wind speed

                A

                warm

                windy

                B

                warm

                still

                C

                cool

                windy

                D

                cool

                still