Question

As you saw in the first part of this homework, at the microscopic level heat conduction is a chain of collisions by particles of different kinetic energies. Suppose a heat interaction occurs between a hot object of 80 °C and a cool object of 10 °C, and the primary energy transfer mechanism is heat conduction. If the interaction continues long enough, how will the average kinetic energy of the particles in the (initially) hot object compare to the average kinetic energy of the particles in the (initially) cool object?

Answer 1

Answer: Afther long time, the average energies of the particles of both objects will be the same

Explanation: The temperature of an object is related to the kinetic energy of the particles that form it.

This means that the hot object has particles with more kinetic energy than the cool object.

Now, if we let them interact ( the interaction here is the conduction) the hot object will transfer thermal energy to the other object, in this way reducing its own particle's kinetic energy and increasing the kinetic energy in the other (cooler) object.

As time passes, the system will reach the equilibrium, this means that both objects will have the same temperature. At this point, the average kinetic energies of the particles in both objects will be the same (because the temperatures are equal)

Answer 2

Answer: The average kinetic energy of the hot object particles will be greater than the average kinetic energy of the cool object.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the given problem, a heat interaction occurs between a hot object of 80 °C and a cool object of 10 °C. There is a heat conduction of the energy transfer.

The average kinetic energy of the particle is due to the motion of the particles.

At higher temperature, the average kinetic energy of the particles is more than the average kinetic energy of the particles at lower temperature.

Therefore, the average kinetic energy of the particles in the (initially) hot object is greater than the average kinetic energy of the particles in the (initially) cool object.