Question
As water becomes warmer, boils and then becomes water vapor (steam), what happens to its kinetic and potential energies?
A. The particles gain both potential and kinetic energy.
B. The kinetic and potential energies of the particles will stay the same.
C. The particles gain kinetic energy as its heats up, but the potential energy of the particles will stay the same.
D. The particles will gain potential energy as it heats up, but the kinetic energy of the particles will stay the same.
A. The particles gain both potential and kinetic energy.
B. The kinetic and potential energies of the particles will stay the same.
C. The particles gain kinetic energy as its heats up, but the potential energy of the particles will stay the same.
D. The particles will gain potential energy as it heats up, but the kinetic energy of the particles will stay the same.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is:
**A. The particles gain both potential and kinetic energy.**
As water is heated, the kinetic energy of the water molecules increases, which raises the temperature of the water. When the water reaches its boiling point, the added energy goes into overcoming the intermolecular forces between the water molecules, which increases the potential energy as the molecules transition from the liquid phase to the vapor phase. Thus, both the kinetic energy (due to increasing temperature) and the potential energy (due to phase change) are gaining energy during this process.
**A. The particles gain both potential and kinetic energy.**
As water is heated, the kinetic energy of the water molecules increases, which raises the temperature of the water. When the water reaches its boiling point, the added energy goes into overcoming the intermolecular forces between the water molecules, which increases the potential energy as the molecules transition from the liquid phase to the vapor phase. Thus, both the kinetic energy (due to increasing temperature) and the potential energy (due to phase change) are gaining energy during this process.