Asked by qp

Two samples of carbon come into contact. A heat transfer will occur between sample A and sample B. What must be true for heat to transfer from sample A to sample B?
The average kinetic energy of A is greater than that of B.
The average kinetic energy of B is greater than that of A.
The average kinetic energy of both samples is equal.
The average kinetic energy does not determine the direction of heat transfer.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
The average kinetic energy of A is greater than that of B.

Reason: Heat flows from the hotter object to the colder one. Temperature is a measure of the average microscopic energy per degree of freedom (for particles), so the sample with the higher average kinetic (vibrational) energy is at the higher temperature and will transfer heat to the cooler sample.