Answer to Question #118234 in General Chemistry for sepehr

Question

What will happen if you place an ice cube tray full of water in the refrigerator?

Coldness will flow from the refrigerator into the water, decreasing its temperature.
The average kinetic energy of the particles in the water will increase.
All the particles in the water will have the same kinetic energy.
The temperature of the water will decrease, since thermal energy is flowing from the water into the air in the refrigerator.
Which of these statements is correct?

A cup of hot coffee has more thermal energy than Lake Huron in the winter.
A cup of tap water has more thermal energy than a cup of hot coffee.
Lake Huron in winter contains more thermal energy than a hot cup of coffee.
The temperature of a sample is the only factor that needs to be considered when determining its thermal energy.

Answer 1

If you place an ice cube tray full of water in the refrigerator the temperature of the water will decrease, since thermal energy is flowing from the water into the air in the refrigerator.

If two objects have the same mass, the object with the higher temperature has greater thermal energy. Temperature affects thermal energy, but temperature isn't the same thing as thermal energy. That's because an object's mass also affects its thermal energy

Hence Lake Huron in winter contains more thermal energy than a hot cup of coffee.