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Date November 2015 Marks available 1 Reference code 15N.1.SL.TZ0.10
Level Standard level Paper Paper 1 Time zone Time zone 0
Command term Question number 10 Adapted from N/A

Question

When 1800 J of energy is supplied to a mass m of liquid in a container, the temperature of the liquid and the container changes by 10 K. When the mass of the liquid is doubled to 2m, 3000 J of energy is required to change the temperature of the liquid and container by 10 K. What is the specific heat capacity of the liquid in Jkg1K1?

A.     60m

B.     120m

C.     180m

D.     240m

Markscheme

B

Examiners report

Think units.

The units of the answer are given as Jkg1K1, which means that we need to divide energy by temperature (and mass, but that is already present in each response). C was the most popular option, but this is 120 (obtained by dividing 1800 J by 10 K and totally ignoring the container) so it must be incorrect. Thus it would be reasonable to subtract the energies given before dividing by 10 K – giving the correct answer B.

Alternatively the candidate can write down the two relevant heat exchange equations and subtract them, but this takes longer.

Syllabus sections

Core » Topic 3: Thermal physics » 3.1 – Thermal concepts
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