Question

Explain how you could thaw out a frozen water pipe by wrapping a coil carrying an alternating current around it. Does it matter whether or not the pipe is a conductor? Explain.

a) The alternating current induces eddy currents in the pipe, generating heat. It does not matter if the pipe is a conductor.

b) The alternating current creates a magnetic field that directly heats the pipe. It matters if the pipe is a conductor.

c) The alternating current creates a cooling effect on the pipe. It does not matter if the pipe is a conductor.

d) The alternating current induces eddy currents in the pipe, generating heat. It matters if the pipe is a conductor.

Answer 1

An alternating current in a coil can thaw a frozen water pipe through induction heating, which induces eddy currents in a conductive pipe, generating heat. It does matter that the pipe is a conductor for this method to work effectively.

Step-by-step explanation:

To thaw out a frozen water pipe by wrapping a coil carrying an alternating current around it, the heat is generated through a process known as induction heating. This process relies on the principle that an alternating current (AC) through the coil creates a changing magnetic field around it. When this field interacts with a conductive material, like a metal pipe, it induces eddy currents within the metal. These eddy currents flow through the resistance of the metal, generating heat due to the resistive loss of energy, which can help to thaw the frozen water inside the pipe.

It matters whether the pipe is a conductor because if the pipe were made out of a non-conductive material, eddy currents would not be generated within it, and thus the warming effect would be negligible. Therefore, for the thawing technique to work efficiently, the pipe needs to be made of a conductive material such as metal.