Question

Students were investigating heat transfer by conduction, and they set up a simple experiment to observe how three spoons made of different materials behaved when placed in a pot of hot water at 90°C. Which spoon is likely to receive the most reasonable answer, and can an answer be observed with the plastic spoon?

Answer 1

The metal spoon is likely to receive the most reasonable answer as it is a good conductor of heat, unlike the plastic spoon which is a poor conductor.

Step-by-step explanation:

When investigating heat transfer by conduction, students observed that the metal spoon heats faster than the plastic spoon. This is because metal is a good conductor of heat, while plastic is a poor conductor. Therefore, the metal spoon is likely to receive the most reasonable answer in terms of heat transfer.

An example of how heat conduction works is when you touch a cold wall with your palm, your hand cools faster than if you just touch it with your fingertip. This is because the number of collisions increases with increasing area, so heat conduction depends on the cross-sectional area.

In the case of the plastic spoon, although it will eventually get warmer due to the surrounding hot water, the heat transfer will be slower and less noticeable compared to the metal spoon.