PRACTICE COLLECTION / 56 PROBLEMS
Thermal physics
Track heat, work and temperature changes. Each problem includes progressive hints, guided reasoning and a question to test the idea again. Problems marked “Free sample” are complete for everyone; membership opens the rest.
A CONNECTED PRACTICE PATH
From a temperature reading to a complete cycle
Work through four passes. Before calculating, write the system, the constraint and the quantity you need. After checking a solution, try its transfer question with the reasoning hidden.
MEMBERSThis 4-stage guided path through the collection is part of membership.Unlock →
LEARN BEFORE YOU PRACTISE
Build the reasoning first.
Units: keep the quantity, change the number
Use units as part of the calculation, including powers, rates and experimental scales.
4 worked examples · 5 checks →Thermal expansion: geometry, measurement and restraint
Follow what can move, what the ruler measures and when heating produces stress.
8 worked examples · 7 checks →Gases: state variables, molecular speeds and collisions
Connect pressure and temperature to particle motion, then distinguish collision distance from collision time.
10 worked examples · 10 checks →Heat, work and thermodynamic paths
Use energy conservation with an explicit system and sign convention, then audit every leg of a gas cycle.
12 worked examples · 11 checks →Heat balances, conduction and cooling
Track energy through mixing and phase changes, then distinguish steady heat flow from a changing temperature.
15 worked examples · 14 checks →Thermal radiation and the wavelength of a spectral peak
Separate emission from net exchange, count the relevant areas and connect temperature to a broad spectrum.
5 worked examples · 9 checks →Heat engines, refrigerators and entropy
Use energy and entropy as separate checks on a complete thermal cycle.
8 worked examples · 9 checks →CONCEPTS IN THIS COLLECTION
PRACTISE AT YOUR PACE
Problems in this collection
56 problems · Showing 12
Thermal physics
Two transfers with opposite sign conventions
What is the change of the gas’s internal energy?
Apply a principleThermal physics
Pressure reveals a rigid gas’s stored energy
How much heat enters the gas?
Find a missing quantityThermal physics
Temperature equilibrium does not average equally
What is their common final temperature?
Apply a principleThermal physics
A temperature interval has no zero offset
What is the temperature increase in kelvins?
Read graphs & measurementsThermal physics
Which way does energy cross the boundary?
What is the change in the gas’s internal energy?
Apply a principleThermal physics
Infer a gas model from its energy split
What is its ratio γ = Cp/Cv?
Connect conceptsThermal physics
A sloping line needs both area and endpoints
What heat enters along A → B?
Read graphs & measurementsThermal physics
Compare routes without recalculating stored energy
How much greater is QB than QA?
Compare casesThermal physics
Compression changes the sign of the logarithm
What is the heat Q into the gas?
Apply a principleThermal physics
An insulated compression stores the work
What work is done on the gas?
Connect conceptsThermal physics
A partition cannot deliver piston work
How much more work by the gas does A deliver than B?
Compare casesThermal physics
A steady surface can keep transferring heat
What exposed area does this model require?
Find a missing quantity12 of 56 shown