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IB Physics HL B 1 9 Specific Heat and Latent Heat Questions

Practise HL thermal calculations for phase changes, experiments, energy losses, flow systems and uncertainty in exam contexts.

Syllabus
First assessment 2025
Course
Physics HL
Level
HL

Exam points

  • Solve multi-stage HL heating problems by combining mcΔT, mL, power, efficiency and energy-loss terms.
  • Evaluate experiments using thermal capacity, uncertainty, flow rate, heat loss and phase-change data.
  • Calculate heating time, energy demand or melting area using material constants and supplied power.

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Study B.1.9—Specific heat and latent heat conceptsOpen the corresponding Concept lesson for explanations, examples and exam connections.

IB Physics HL B 1 9 Specific Heat and Latent Heat Questions question 1

[Maximum number: 2]

The graph shows the variation with time of the height of the International Space Station (ISS) during a 30-day period.

Figure for Question IB Physics HL B 1 9 Specific Heat and Latent Heat Questions question 1 — IB Physics HL

The following data are available:

 Mass of Earth =5.98×1024 kg Mass of the ISS =4.20×105 kg Radius of the Earth =6.38×106 m\begin{aligned} \text { Mass of Earth } & =5.98 \times 10^{24} \mathrm{~kg} \\ \text { Mass of the ISS } & =4.20 \times 10^{5} \mathrm{~kg} \\ \text { Radius of the Earth } & =6.38 \times 10^{6} \mathrm{~m} \end{aligned}

For the 30-day period indicated in the graph the loss of total energy of the ISS is 4.5×109 J4.5 \times 10^{9} \mathrm{~J}.

Estimate the increase in the temperature of the ISS assuming all the lost energy went into thermal energy of the ISS. Take the specific heat capacity of the ISS to be 500Jkg−1 K−1500 \mathrm{Jkg}^{-1} \mathrm{~K}^{-1}.

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