Question

Yamel is heating up leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving. She forgot to put gravy on them. So she puts the cold gravy on the hot mashed potatoes. Which statement best describes what will happen? A-The mashed potatoes will transfer heat into the gravy B-The gravy and mashed potatoes both transfer heat into the plate C-The gravy will transfer cold into the mashed potatoes D- The gravy transfers cold into the mashed potatoes and plate​

Answer 1

Heat will move from hot mashed potatoes to the cold gravy, warming the gravy and cooling the potatoes slightly until they reach a similar temperature. Options referring to 'transferring cold' are incorrect as cold is simply a lack of heat.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Yamel puts the cold gravy on the hot mashed potatoes, heat transfer will occur. This is because heat always moves from a warmer object to a cooler one until thermal equilibrium is reached. So, the correct statement is: A-The mashed potatoes will transfer heat into the gravy. This will cause the gravy to warm up and the mashed potatoes to cool down slightly until both reach a similar temperature.

Option B is incorrect because the heat transfer is primarily between the mashed potatoes and gravy, although some heat will inevitably be lost to the plate as well. Option C and D are not correct because scientifically, cold cannot be transferred. Instead, it's the absence of heat. So, it's inaccurate to say the gravy transfers cold; rather, it's the heat from the potatoes moving into the colder gravy.

Answer 2

The correct answer is - option A. The mashed potatoes will transfer heat into the gravy.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this case, where Yamel heats the mashed potatoes but forgets to heat the gravy and put the cold gravy on the hot mashed potatoes. Heat always transfers from the high-temperature object to the low-temperature object. So the hot mashed potatoes will transfer the heat to the gravy according to option A. Cold is not a form of heat but the condition of absence of heat or very low temperature.

Thus, the correct answer is - option A. The mashed potatoes will transfer heat into the gravy.