Final answer:
The ice undergoes a phase change when placed on a warm counter, transitioning from solid to liquid while absorbing latent heat, which is shown on a heating curve where the temperature remains constant at 0°C during the melting process.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a sample of ice is placed on a warm kitchen counter and the temperature rises, the property of the ice that changes is its phase. Initially, the ice absorbs heat and its temperature increases linearly until it reaches 0°C. Once at 0°C, the ice begins the phase change from solid to liquid, known as melting.
During this process, the temperature remains constant despite the continuous absorption of heat, a phenomenon explained by the requirement of latent heat for the phase transition. After all the ice has melted into liquid water, with further heat absorption, the temperature of the water will start to rise again.
This behavior is depicted in a heating curve, which is a graph of temperature versus the amount of heat added over time