Unit C Section 1 Introduction Heat Can Change States of Matter
Completion requirements
Section 1: Heat affects substances and can change the states of matter.
Unit C: Section 1 - Introduction
How Heat Affects Substances
Canadians rarely get to see lava, we only have a few active volcanoes. Even more rare would be to see lava coming in contact with a snowman! Can you imagine what would happen?
We often see how heat affects substances but we don't give it much thought. Look at the sauce dripping onto the caramel candies in Figure C.S.1.1. The sauce is exactly the same substance as the candies - they are both made of caramel!
So how can the same substance exist in liquid and solid form at the same time? The answer to this question lies in heat. In this section, you are going to learn a lot more about how heat affect and change substances.
Figure C.S.1.1 – Caramel candy that is solid and liquid.
Figure C.S.1.2 – What makes a snowman melt?
Figure C.S.1.3 – Molten lava oozes over the ground.
Words to Think About:
Check out the word cloud below. It pictures the important words that you are going to learn in this section. Watch for these words, and combinations of these words, as you read. When you see them highlighted, you can click on them to learn more about
what the word means.
You can also visit the course glossary and read definitions for all of these words.
Lessons in This Section
Lesson C1: Why is Heat So Important?
Key Question – What is heat and what role does it play in meeting human needs and technology?
Lesson C2: Heat and the States of Matter
Key Question – What effect does heat have on different substances?
Lesson C3: Thermal Energy
Key Question – Are heat and temperature the same thing?
Lesson C4: How Thermal Energy Affects Our World
Key Question – What does an engineer need to know about the effects of thermal energy?
Reading and Materials for This Section
Science in Action 7
Reading Pages: 175–208
Materials Lists for Unit:
Think • Interpret • Decide
Experimenting With Warm and Cold Water
The video below shows a simple experiment using warm, cold, and room temperature water. Feel free to try the experiment yourself - just be very careful not to use water that is too hot, you don't want to burn yourself.
After you have watched the video and tried the experiment yourself;
Think: Do you understand the results of this experiment? If not, watch the video again.
Interpret: What are some reasons why your hands might feel different temperatures?
Decide: In your view, what is the explanation for why cold and warm hands feel the same temperature water differently?
The video below shows a simple experiment using warm, cold, and room temperature water. Feel free to try the experiment yourself - just be very careful not to use water that is too hot, you don't want to burn yourself.
After you have watched the video and tried the experiment yourself;
Think: Do you understand the results of this experiment? If not, watch the video again.
Interpret: What are some reasons why your hands might feel different temperatures?
Decide: In your view, what is the explanation for why cold and warm hands feel the same temperature water differently?
Figure C.S.1.4 – Try this experiment yourself!
Think • Interpret • Decide
Now that you have have thought about the experiment, watch the video to the right for an answer to why warm and cold hands feel the same temperature water differently.
Does the answer match what you decided?
If not, don't worry, you will be learning much more about heat and temperature in this section.
Now that you have have thought about the experiment, watch the video to the right for an answer to why warm and cold hands feel the same temperature water differently.
Does the answer match what you decided?
If not, don't worry, you will be learning much more about heat and temperature in this section.