Cooling Off (Heat, Temperature and Phase Changes)

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a physics student attempting to cool down a swimming pool filled with 200 liters of water at an initial temperature of 25°C by adding ice cubes at 0°C until the water stabilizes at 16°C. The discussion centers around calculating the number of ice cubes needed based on heat transfer principles, specifically the heat lost by the water and the heat gained by the ice cubes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the heat transfer calculations, including the heat lost by the water and the heat gained by the ice cubes. There is a focus on the correct application of specific heat and latent heat values. Questions arise regarding the state of the ice after melting and how to incorporate that into calculations.

Discussion Status

Some participants have attempted to set up the equations based on the provided help, but there are indications of confusion regarding the calculations, particularly in accounting for the heating of melted ice. Others have identified mistakes in their calculations and are adjusting their approaches based on feedback.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working under the assumption that the system is isolated and that no heat is lost to the surroundings. There is also a mention of using standard values for specific heat and latent heat, which may be a point of contention in the accuracy of their results.

Pat2666
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Okay, so I've approached this problem from a number of different ways and have gotten some crazy answers. The poor student would be spending the day in a bath of ice if my answers were right :P

Here's the problem :

Trying to beat the heat of the last summer, a physics student went to the local toy store and purchased a plastic child's swimming pool. Upon returning home, she filled it with 200 liters of water at 25oC. Realizing that the water would probably not be cool enough, she threw ice cubes from her refrigerator, each of mass 30g, into the pool. (The ice cubes were originally at 0oC.) She continued to add ice cubes, until the temperature stabilized to 16oC. She then got in the pool.
The density of water is 1000 kg/m3, the specific heat of water is 1.0 cal/g C, the specific heat of ice is 0.5 cal/g C, and the latent heat of fusion of water is 80 cal/g.


How many ice cubes did she add to the pool to get the temperature to 16 C? (Consider the pool and ice cubes an isolated system.)

Number of Ice Cubes = cubes

HELP: Heat lost by water = heat gained by ice cubes. No heat is lost to the surroundings.

HELP: Since the water (subsystem 1) is at a higher temperature, heat will be lost to the ice cubes (subsystem 2). Calculate the heat H that the water gave up from 25 C to 16 C; calculate the heat h that each ice cube gained from 0C to 16 C including melting. Then the number of ice cubes equals H/h.


So I tried to follow what was given in the help section, determining the Heat Lost by the water and that gained by an ice cube. I then set them up with Qw / Qice as suggested but keeping getting the wrong answer. Any help would be appriciated!

My Work :

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/620/workjs0.jpg

BTW - I used the standard values for specific heat and latent heat, but I don't believe that should make much of a difference.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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Pat2666 said:
Okay, so I've approached this problem from a number of different ways and have gotten some crazy answers. The poor student would be spending the day in a bath of ice if my answers were right :P

Here's the problem :

Trying to beat the heat of the last summer, a physics student went to the local toy store and purchased a plastic child's swimming pool. Upon returning home, she filled it with 200 liters of water at 25oC. Realizing that the water would probably not be cool enough, she threw ice cubes from her refrigerator, each of mass 30g, into the pool. (The ice cubes were originally at 0oC.) She continued to add ice cubes, until the temperature stabilized to 16oC. She then got in the pool.
The density of water is 1000 kg/m3, the specific heat of water is 1.0 cal/g C, the specific heat of ice is 0.5 cal/g C, and the latent heat of fusion of water is 80 cal/g.


How many ice cubes did she add to the pool to get the temperature to 16 C? (Consider the pool and ice cubes an isolated system.)

Number of Ice Cubes = cubes

HELP: Heat lost by water = heat gained by ice cubes. No heat is lost to the surroundings.

HELP: Since the water (subsystem 1) is at a higher temperature, heat will be lost to the ice cubes (subsystem 2). Calculate the heat H that the water gave up from 25 C to 16 C; calculate the heat h that each ice cube gained from 0C to 16 C including melting. Then the number of ice cubes equals H/h.


So I tried to follow what was given in the help section, determining the Heat Lost by the water and that gained by an ice cube. I then set them up with Qw / Qice as suggested but keeping getting the wrong answer. Any help would be appriciated!

My Work :

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/620/workjs0.jpg

BTW - I used the standard values for specific heat and latent heat, but I don't believe that should make much of a difference.
What happens to the ice when it has melted? Does it stay at 0oC?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Oh, it continues to heat up?

So I need to add 0.03kg(4186)(16-0) to the demoninator? But it still comes out to the wrong answer. I get 625 ice cubes.

I did 7534800 / (10050 + 2009.28) <--- Original demoniator plus the energy from continued heating.
 
Oh I figure out my mistake, I wasn't doing 0.03kg * 2090 because I thought since the change in T was zero it wasn't significant. I guess the student really is going to spend the time adding 621 ice cubes o_0

Thanks for all the help! :)
 

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