AQA · GCSE · Physics
Course version: 8463 · Version from Sept 2016
This either raises the temperature of the system or produces a change of…
Full specification wording
Internal energy: This either raises the temperature of the system or produces a change of state.
Energy supplied by heating does one of two things, never both at once.
Checked against the AQA 8463 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 4 of 4
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
Energy supplied by heating does one of two things, never both at once. It raises the temperature, in which case the energy goes to the kinetic store of the particles and the rise depends on the mass, the specific heat capacity and the energy supplied. Or it produces a change of state, in which case the temperature stays constant while the energy goes to the potential store, separating the particles against the forces holding them together. A heating curve shows this directly, because the sloping sections are temperature rises and the flat sections at the melting point and the boiling point are changes of state. Which section you are in tells you which equation to use: specific heat capacity on the slopes, specific latent heat on the flats.
What earns the marks
- The energy either raising the temperature or causing a change of state.
- The temperature remaining constant during a change of state.
- Identifying a flat section of a heating curve as melting or boiling.
- Selecting the specific heat capacity equation for a sloping section and latent heat for a flat one.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Reading a flat section of a heating curve as a period when no energy is being supplied.
Using the specific heat capacity equation across a change of state.
Saying the temperature rises during melting because energy is still being supplied.
Confusing the melting plateau with the boiling plateau on a labelled graph.
Exam tips
- Label the sloping and flat parts of any heating curve before attempting the calculation.
- Ask which store is changing, kinetic for a slope and potential for a plateau, then pick the equation.
- State that the temperature is constant during a change of state, because it is often worth a mark on its own.
Try the lesson
The start of the Internal energy: This either raises the temperature of the system or produces a change of state. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Energy is transferred to a solid block of ice. The ice begins to melt but its temperature stays at 0 °C. What has the energy transfer produced?
Listen
Energy supplied by heating does one of two things, never both at once. It raises the temperature, in which case the energy goes to the kinetic store of the particles and the rise depends on the mass, the specific heat capacity and the energy supplied. Or it produces a change of state, in which case the temperature stays constant while the energy goes to the potential store, separating the particles against the forces holding them together. A heating curve shows this directly, because the sloping sections are temperature rises and the flat sections at the melting point and the boiling point are changes of state. Which section you are in tells you which equation to use: specific heat capacity on the slopes, specific latent heat on the flats. A strong answer earns marks for these points. the energy either raising the temperature or causing a change of state. the temperature remaining constant during a change of state. identifying a flat section of a heating curve as melting or boiling. selecting the specific heat capacity equation for a sloping section and latent heat for a flat one. Exam tip: Label the sloping and flat parts of any heating curve before attempting the calculation.
Key words
Say what each word means before you turn the card.
temperature rise
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change of state
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heating curves
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constant temperature plateau
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See every definition
- temperature rise
- What happens when the energy supplied goes to the kinetic store of the particles, with the rise depending on the mass, the specific heat capacity and the energy supplied.
- change of state
- What happens when the temperature stays constant while the energy goes to the potential store, separating the particles against the forces holding them together.
- heating curves
- A graph whose sloping sections are temperature rises and whose flat sections at the melting point and the boiling point are changes of state.
- constant temperature plateau
- A flat section of a heating curve, at the melting point or the boiling point, where a change of state occurs while the temperature stays constant.
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