Primary 6 · Science · Energy: Heat & Temperature
Energy: Heat & Temperature questions for Primary 6 Science
10 questions to work through online, 2 of them written out the way the paper asks. Answer and you get the working straight away, then a score at the end. No sign-up, and you can retake it as often as you like.
- Why metal feels colder
- Reading a cooling curve
- Heat gain and heat loss
- The bimetallic strip
- Reasoning about rate of cooling
- Conductors and insulators in use
- Heat against temperature
- Naming the direction
- Naming the state
- Applying the ideas
| Cup | Material | Lid | Temperature after 20 min (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| W | metal | ✗ | 41 |
| X | metal | ✓ | 52 |
| Y | plastic foam | ✗ | 58 |
| Z | plastic foam | ✓ | 69 |
Answers and explanations for all 10 questions
Every answer with the reasoning behind it. Worth reading after you have tried the set — or on its own, if you are a parent marking it.
A metal spoon and a wooden spoon have been in the same drawer all night. Why does the metal one feel colder?
Answer: Metal conducts heat away from your hand faster than wood does.
Both are at the same temperature. What your hand notices is how fast heat leaves it, and metal draws that heat away far more quickly than wood.
Based on the graph above, what is the temperature of the room?
Answer: 30 °C
A drink cools until it matches its surroundings and then stops. The line flattens at 30 °C, so that is the room's temperature.
An ice-cold can is left on a table in a warm room. Which two statements are correct?
Answer: A and B only
Heat always flows from the warmer thing to the cooler one, so it goes from the room into the can. It stops when the two are equal.
A strip made of two different metals joined together bends when heated. Why?
Answer: The two metals expand by different amounts.
Both metals expand, but not equally. The one expanding more becomes longer than its partner, and since they are joined the strip has to curve.
Based on the table above, which comparison shows the effect of the lid alone?
Answer: W and X
W and X are both metal and differ only in the lid, so the 11 °C between them is the lid's doing. Y and Z would serve equally well.
Which two of these choices rely on a material being a poor conductor?
Answer: A and B only
Foam and trapped air both slow heat down, which is what an insulator is for. A pan base and a cooler are chosen for the opposite reason.
A cup of water at 90 °C is poured into a bucket of water at 20 °C. What is the final temperature likely to be?
Answer: a little above 20 °C
The cup holds far less water than the bucket, so the heat it carries is spread very thinly. The mixture ends up only slightly above the bucket's starting temperature.
Two objects at different temperatures are placed in contact. Heat always flows from the ______ object to the cooler one.
Answer: hotter
Heat flows from the hotter object to the cooler one.
Two objects in contact stop exchanging heat once they are at the same temperature. They are then said to be in thermal ______ . (One word.)
Answer: equilibrium
When two objects reach the same temperature and heat stops flowing, they are in thermal equilibrium.
Why do people in very hot countries often wear loose white clothing rather than tight black clothing?
Answer: White reflects more of the sun's heat, and loose cloth lets air carry heat away.
Two effects at once: pale surfaces reflect rather than absorb the sun's heat, and loose cloth lets air move next to the skin and carry heat off.