Temperature, particle motion, and how much the temperature changes
Grade 8 Science Worksheet

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.
A heater gives sample B the same energy as sample A. Ari heats two samples of water with the same amount of energy. How many °C does sample B rise?
A heater gives sample B the same energy as sample A. A heater gives two samples of olive oil the same energy. How many °C does sample B rise, Bo?
A heater gives sample B the same energy as sample A. Two samples of milk get the same energy from a heater. How many °C does sample B rise, Esme?
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Mixing water in an insulated cup (example data)
sample mass (g) temperature (°C) Hot 200 80 Cold 200 20 Assume no energy leaves the cup.
Jun mixes the hot and cold water. Which final temperature is most reasonable?
- 65 °C, since the hot water has the faster particles and those particles dominate the mixture
- 20 °C, since the cold particles slow the hot ones down until the mixture matches the cold water
- 100 °C, since the two starting temperatures add together when the samples are mixed
- 50 °C, halfway between the two, since equal masses share the energy evenly
Kira mixes a small amount of hot water with a large amount of cold water. Which final temperature is most reasonable?
- Between 50 °C and 80 °C, nearer 80 °C, since the hot water has faster particles than the cold water has, so it wins
- Well below 50 °C, much nearer 20 °C than 80 °C, since the larger cold mass has more particles to share the energy
- Above 80 °C, since the temperatures of the two samples add together in the mixture when they are poured
- Exactly 50 °C, the average of the two starting temperatures, since both samples are made of the same water
Assume no energy leaves the cup. Luz claims the final temperature is always the average of the two starting temperatures. Does the table support that?
- No: only trial 1 matched the average, and the final temperature moved toward the larger mass
- No: each final temperature should match the hot water's, since hot particles dominate a mixture
- Yes: each final temperature sits between the two starting temperatures, which makes it an average
- Yes: trial 1 matched the average, so the other two trials must have had measurement errors
Three samples with the same energy (example data)
sample mass (g) temperature rise (°C) A 100 20 B 100 8 C 100 12 Milo gives three 100 g samples the same energy. Which material needs the most energy per degree of warming?
- Sample A, since it rose the most, so it must have absorbed the most energy
- The three need equal energy per degree, since the heater gave each sample equal energy
- Sample C, since its rise is in the middle, so it needs a middle amount of energy per degree
- Sample B, since the same energy raised its temperature by the smallest amount
Two samples with the same energy (example data)
sample mass (g) temperature rise (°C) X 50 16 Y 100 16 Samples X and Y get the same energy and both rise 16 °C. Which material needs more energy per gram per degree, Noah?
- X, since it has half the mass but rose just as much from the same energy
- Neither: they are equal, since both samples rose by 16 °C from the same energy
- Y, since it has more mass and so took in more energy from the heater than X did
- Y, since a larger sample needs more energy per degree than a smaller sample made of the same material
Lamp test, one dish of each (example data)
material mass (g) minutes under the lamp temperature rise (°C) Sand 100 10 22 Water 200 10 8 Tala says sand has a smaller specific heat than water. What change would make this test fair?
- Test 200 g of sand for 15 minutes, so that the sand has as much to warm up as the water has
- Keep both dishes as they are and report the result as certain, since the same lamp was used for both
- Test 100 g of water for 20 minutes, so that it reaches the same temperature as the sand did
- Test 100 g of water for 10 minutes, so that only the material differs between the two dishes
Each dish held 100 g and sat under one lamp for 10 minutes. Each material was tested three times with 100 g under one lamp for 10 minutes. Which conclusion do the data support, Zee?
- Water needs less energy per degree, since its rise was the smaller one in each of the three trials
- Sand rose about twice as much as water in each trial, so sand needs less energy per degree
- The sand results vary from 22 °C to 25 °C, so no conclusion about the two materials is possible
- Trial 1 settles it, since 22 °C against 11 °C is clear and the other two trials add nothing