Question

A person packs two identical coolers for a picnic, placing twenty-four 12-ounce soft drinks and 5 pounds of ice in each. However, the drinks put into cooler A were refrigerated for several hours before they were packed in the cooler, while the drinks put into cooler B were at room temperature. When the picnickers open the two coolers three hours later, most of the ice in cooler A is still present, while nearly all of the ice in cooler B has melted.\

Answer 1

The rate of heat transfer in cooler A is lower than the rate of heat transfer in cooler B and more heat energy is being transferred in cooler B than in cooler A.

Step-by-step explanation:

A person packs two identical coolers for a picnic, placing twenty-four 12-ounce soft drinks and 5 pounds of ice in each. However, the drinks put into cooler A were refrigerated for several hours before they were packed in the cooler, while the drinks put into cooler B were at room temperature.

Therefore, the drinks in cooler A are at lower temperatures than those in cooler B because the drinks in cooler A have been refrigerated for several hours.

Generally when there is temperature gradient in a system, heat energy will flow from the body at high temperature to the body at low temperature until thermal equilibrium is reached.

The rate of heat transfer in cooler A is lower than the rate of heat transfer in cooler B and more heat energy is being transferred in cooler B than in cooler A. As a result, majority of the ice in cooler B has melted while there are still more ice in cooler A.