Final answer:
The thermal energy from a nail could only melt a small amount of ice, given that a significant amount of energy is needed for the melting process and a single nail has limited energy to transfer.
Therefore, the correct answer to your question would be B) A small amount.
Step-by-step explanation:
Regarding the question how much ice could be melted by the thermal energy of the nail, we can analyze the energy transfer involved in melting ice.
To melt ice, heat must be absorbed without raising the temperature of the ice. This is known as the latent heat of fusion. In the context provided, there is a mention of 200 kJ of energy required to bring ice from -5.0°C to 0.0°C, melt the ice at 0.0°C, and then raise the temperature of the resulting water to 37°C.
Less than 2 moles of ice absorb just less than 12 kJ of heat in the melting process. Hence, the thermal energy from a single nail would only be able to melt a small amount of ice due to the relatively high amount of energy required to melt ice compared to the small amount of energy a nail could transfer.
The amount of ice that can be melted by the thermal energy of a nail depends on various factors such as the temperature of the nail, the mass of the nail, and the specific heat capacity of ice.
Generally, the thermal energy of a nail is not enough to melt a significant amount of ice. Therefore, the correct answer to your question would be B) A small amount.