A fisherman in a boat is drinking a cup of hot coffee. The large lake below his boat is full of cold water. Which statement is an accurate comparison of the lake water and the coffee?(1 point)

Question

Responses

The lake will have more total thermal energy, and the particles in the lake water will be moving faster.
The lake will have more total thermal energy, and the particles in the lake water will be moving faster.

The coffee will have more total thermal energy, and the particles in the coffee will be moving faster.
The coffee will have more total thermal energy, and the particles in the coffee will be moving faster.

The lake will have more total thermal energy, but the particles in the coffee will be moving faster.
The lake will have more total thermal energy, but the particles in the coffee will be moving faster.

The coffee will have more total thermal energy, but the particles in the lake water will be moving faster.

Answer 1

To assess the comparison between the large lake of cold water and the cup of hot coffee, we need to consider both the total thermal energy and the motion of the particles in each substance.

1. The lake, being large, contains a vast amount of water, which means it has a high total thermal energy due to its mass, even if the individual water molecules are moving slowly at lower temperatures compared to the coffee.
2. The coffee is hot, which indicates that the particles in the coffee are moving faster than those in the colder lake water, but the total thermal energy of the coffee will be lower than that of the lake due to its smaller volume.

Given this, the most accurate statement from the options provided would be:

The lake will have more total thermal energy, but the particles in the coffee will be moving faster.

This reflects that, despite the lake having more thermal energy overall, the molecules in the hot coffee are moving more rapidly than those in the cold lake water.