

3.1. Temperature and Energy Changes
Here we start to look at the relationship between temperature and heat. We are familiar with the concept of temperature - but what exactly does this mean in a Physics context? Here we look at what happens as an object heats up or cools down, as well as when we have a change of state.
Before we dive in, consider for a minute, where would you find the coldest place in the universe? Perhaps you might immediately think of the deepest darkest recesses of space, light years away from any stars or galaxies. However, even there the temperature only reaches about 2-3 K, still a few degrees above absolute zero. In fact, the coldest place in the universe will be somewhere in a lab on the surface of the Earth - scientists have achieved temperatures around 0.1 nK - less than a billionth of a degree above absolute zero.
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Temperature, Heat and Internal Energy
Temperature is a property that we are broadly familiar with through our everyday experiences. In everyday life we typically measure temperature in Celsius (other than the Americans reading this!) - a scale built upon the freezing and boiling point of water. In Physics, we instead more commonly use the Kelvin scale - a much more useful measurement in science, as it starts at absolute zero (i.e. zero Kelvin).
Think about the above example discussing the temperature of deepest darkest space - what exactly does this mean? In Physics, temperature is really a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a substance. In deepest space, this 'temperature' would therefore be due to the kinetic energy of the handful of H and He molecules flying around.
If you are unfamiliar with conversions between Celsius and Kelvin, take a look at this video (you don't need to worry about the Fahrenheit conversions for IB fortunately!).
Video Lessons
Gradepod | Internal Energy | IB Specific | |||
Khan Academy | Kelvin Scale | ||||
Study Nova | Important Definitions | Important Definitions (Lecture) | |||
Chris Doner | Thermal Concepts | IB Specific |
Resources
IB Physics | Topic 3 Notes | |||||
IB-Physics.net | Chapter 3 Summary | IB Revision Notes | ||||
Mr. G | 3.1 Teaching Notes | 3.1 Student Notes | ||||
Physics and Maths Tutor | Thermal Definitions | Thermal Detailed Notes | Thermal Key Points PDF | Thermal Flashcards | A Level Resources - content slightly different |
Questions
Cambridge University Press | Topic 3: Add Qs | Topic 3: Add Qs MS | Topic 3: MCQs | CUP Website Link | Freely available online | |
Grade Gorilla | 3.1 (Thermal) MCQ | Topic 3 (Thermal) End Quiz | Quick IB Specific Mixed MCQs | |||
Isaac Physics | The Kelvin Scale | |||||
Mr. G | 3.1 Formative Assessment | Topic 3 Summary Qs | IB Specific Questions |
Specific Heat Capacity
This simulation from PHET shows nicely the link between heat (measure in Joules) and temperature (measured in degrees Celsius). The bunsen burner transfers heat energy at a constant rate to different materials. However, the temperature of each materials changes at different rates.
Video Lessons
Khan Academy | Specific Heat and Latent Heat | ||||
Study Nova | Specific Heat Capacity | SHC (Lecture) | SHC (Lecture 2) | ||
Science Shorts | SHC & SLH | ||||
Chris Doner | Specific Heat Capacity and Latent Heat | IB Specific |
Resources
IB Physics | Topic 3 Notes | |||||
IB-Physics.net | Chapter 3 Summary | IB Revision Notes | ||||
Isaac Physics | Heat Capacities | Level 6 Beyond IB | ||||
Mr. G | 3.1 Teaching Notes | 3.1 Student Notes | ||||
Physics and Maths Tutor | Thermal Definitions | Thermal Detailed Notes | Thermal Key Points PDF | Thermal Flashcards | A Level Resources - content slightly different |
Questions
Cambridge University Press | Topic 3: Add Qs | Topic 3: Add Qs MS | Topic 3: MCQs | CUP Website Link | Freely available online | |
Dr French's Eclecticon | Specific Heat and Cooling | Specific Heat and Cooling Solutions | Link to Dr French's Site | Extension: Pre-University Material | ||
Grade Gorilla | 3.1 (Thermal) MCQ | Topic 3 (Thermal) End Quiz | Quick IB Specific Mixed MCQs | |||
Isaac Physics | Heat Capacity | |||||
Mr. G | 3.1 Formative Assessment | Topic 3 Summary Qs | IB Specific Questions | |||
Physics and Maths Tutor | Thermal Energy (Edexcel 1) | Thermal Energy (Edexcel 1) | Thermal Energy (Edexcel 2) | Thermal Energy MS (Edexcel 2) | A-Level Qs: overlapping content | |
Physics and Maths Tutor | Thermal Physics (AQA 1) | Thermal Physics MS (AQA 1) | Thermal Transfer (AQA 2) | Thermal Transfer MS (AQA 2) | A-Level Qs: overlapping content |
Specific Latent Heat
Here we start to look at a change of state of a material - that is melting, freezing, boiling etc.
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Video Lessons
Khan Academy | Specific Heat and Latent Heat | ||||
Study Nova | Specific Latent Heat | SLH (Lecture) | |||
Science Shorts | SHC & SLH | ||||
Chris Doner | Specific Heat Capacity and Latent Heat | Heat Transfer and Calorimetry Problems | Heat Transfer and Calorimetry Problems II | IB Specific |
Resources
IB Physics | Topic 3 Notes | |||||
IB-Physics.net | Chapter 3 Summary | IB Revision Notes | ||||
Isaac Physics | Enthalpy | Cooling Curves | Level 6 Beyond IB | |||
Mr. G | 3.1 Teaching Notes | 3.1 Student Notes | ||||
Physics and Maths Tutor | Thermal Definitions | Thermal Detailed Notes | Thermal Key Points PDF | Thermal Flashcards | A Level Resources - content slightly different |
Questions
Cambridge University Press | Topic 3: Add Qs | Topic 3: Add Qs MS | Topic 3: MCQs | CUP Website Link | Freely available online | |
Grade Gorilla | 3.1 (Thermal) MCQ | Topic 3 (Thermal) End Quiz | Quick IB Specific Mixed MCQs | |||
Isaac Physics | Latent Heat and Heat Capacity | |||||
Mr. G | 3.1 Formative Assessment | Topic 3 Summary Qs | IB Specific Questions | |||
Physics and Maths Tutor | Thermal Physics (AQA 1) | Thermal Physics MS (AQA 1) | Thermal Transfer (AQA 2) | Thermal Transfer MS (AQA 2) | A-Level Qs: overlapping content | |
Physics and Maths Tutor | Thermal Energy (Edexcel 1) | Thermal Energy (Edexcel 1) | Thermal Energy (Edexcel 2) | Thermal Energy MS (Edexcel 2) |
Additional Resources
Definitions and Key Words : Chapter 3
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A set of Quizlet flashcards of the key words and definitions for this chapter is provided here.
IB Questions
A question by question breakdown of the IB papers by year is shown below to allow you to filter questions by topic. Hopefully you have access to many of these papers through your school system. If available, there may be some links to online sources of questions, though please be patient if the links are broken! (DrR: If you do find some broken links, please contact me through the site)
Questions on this topic (Section 3) are shown in yellow.
Additional Resources
IB Questions
A question by question breakdown of the IB papers by year is shown below to allow you to filter questions by topic. Hopefully you have access to many of these papers through your school system. If available, there may be some links to online sources of questions, though please be patient if the links are broken! (DrR: If you do find some broken links, please contact me through the site)
Questions on this topic (Section 2) are shown in red.
Use this grid to practice past IB questions topic by topic. You can see from the colours how similar the question topic breakdown is year by year. The more you can familiarise yourself with the IB question style the better - eventually you will come to spot those tricks and types of questions that reappear each year.
Use this grid to practice past IB questions topic by topic. You can see from the colours how similar the question topic breakdown is year by year. The more you can familiarise yourself with the IB question style the better - eventually you will come to spot those tricks and types of questions that reappear each year.