Scientists in a laboratory were working with insulin, a protein often used to treat diabetes. They left two identical vials of insulin in different places. This table shows how the temperature of each vial changed over 15minutes.

Question

Vial Initial temperature (°C) Final temperature (°C)
Vial on the counter 2.5 5.9
Vial in the refrigerator 2.5 4.0
A. the surroundings... each vial
B. each vial...the surroundings

Answer 1

To analyze how the temperature changes, we can discuss the heat exchange between each vial and its surroundings.

A. The surroundings ** heated ** each vial.

• The vial on the counter, which received ambient heat from its surroundings, had a significant increase in temperature from 2.5°C to 5.9°C over the 15 minutes. The warmer air in the laboratory contributed to this increase in temperature, indicating that heat transferred from the surroundings to the vial.

B. Each vial ** lost heat to ** the surroundings.

• The vial in the refrigerator experienced a smaller temperature increase, going from 2.5°C to 4.0°C, indicating that while it did warm up slightly, it likely lost heat to the colder environment of the refrigerator. The refrigerator environment kept the temperature of this vial lower than that of the vial on the counter, showing that it was in a colder surrounding and losing less heat comparatively.

In conclusion, the temperature changes can be attributed to the heat transfer between the vials and their respective surroundings.