Question

A sealed, insulated calorimeter contains water at 310 K. The surrounding air temperature is 298 K, and the water inside the calorimeter remains at 310 K two hours later. What type of system does the calorimeter attempt to model?

A closed system, because energy can enter or leave the system, but matter cannot.


A closed system, because neither heat nor matter is entering or leaving the container.


An isolated system, because energy can enter or leave the system, but matter cannot.


An isolated system, because neither heat nor matter is entering or leaving the container.

Answer 1

D is the answer, I believe.

An isolated system is one that allows neither heat or matter to enter or exit, and since the liquid remained the same temperature, one can conclude that neither energy nor matter is passing through.

Answer 2

An isolated system, because neither heat nor matter is entering or leaving the container.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a closed system there is no exchange of heat but matter is exchanged. In an isolated system there is no exchange of heat or matter. Here the temperature of water remains constant at 310 K, which means that no heat is exchanged. Also there is no decreases in volume of water the calorimeter after 2 hours, which means that no matter was lost either. Therefore this is an isolated system.