. Eric pours some iced tea into a glass. When he puts the iced tea in the glass, the energy of the glass decreases. What must be true of the energy of the iced tea?

Question

Responses

a
Its energy stays the same while the energy of the glass decreases.
Its energy stays the same while the energy of the glass decreases.

b
Its energy decreases while the energy of the glass decreases.
Its energy decreases while the energy of the glass decreases.

c
Its energy increases while the energy of the glass decreases.
Its energy increases while the energy of the glass decreases.

d
It is impossible to know without data on the number of molecules in each object.
It is impossible to know without data on the number of molecules in each object.

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

c
Its energy increases while the energy of the glass decreases.

When Eric pours iced tea into the glass, the iced tea, which is at a different temperature than the glass, typically has a higher energy (in terms of thermal energy) than the glass. As the iced tea cools down (losing energy) and transfers some of its energy to the glass, the glass's energy increases while the iced tea's energy decreases. However, in the context of the question where we are only concerned about the energy of the iced tea relative to the glass, we can conclude that the iced tea's energy would likely increase temporarily while the glass's energy decreases, until thermal equilibrium is reached.