Question

If you drop red hot metal into a pool of room temperature oil, what statements are true about heat transfer between the two objects?
A
Heat flows from the oil into the metal.
B
Heat flows from the metal into the oil.
C
There is no heat flow between the metal and the oil.
D
Heat flows back and forth between the metal and the oil simultaneously.

Answer 1

Correct answer: B.

Explanation: The red-hot metal is at a higher temperature than the room-temperature oil, so net heat flows from the metal into the oil until they approach thermal equilibrium. A and C are false.

Note on D: microscopically individual molecules on each side exchange energy in both directions, but the net heat transfer is from the hotter metal to the cooler oil — there is no net simultaneous heat flow in the opposite direction.