PHY3703 Assignment 01 solutions 2026
Dear Student , type or hand write this is allowed and
I’m your private tutor iQ Level
PHY3703 consists of three (3) Formative Assessments, which must be submitted not
later than the due date provided on myUnisa.
All the assessment questions come from the prescribed textbook: Harvey Gould and
Jan Tobochnik, Statistical and Thermal Physics with computer applications, 2010,
Princeton University Press, Princeton, ISBN 9780691137445. Since this book will be
used for assignments, you should source it from local bookstores or online as soon as
possible.
Note that it is compulsory to submit all formative assessments for you to be admitted to
write the final examination.
The problems which you must Assessment 2 Assessment 3
work on are indicated in the
table below: Assessment 1
1.5 3.20 5.16
1.10 3.37 5.26
2.4 4.10 6.1
2.30 4.21 6.3
, Problem 1.5
(a) What is temperature & why is it related to energy?
Answer:
Temperature is a physical quantity that measures the degree of hotness or coldness of
a system. On a microscopic level, it is related to the average kinetic energy of
particles in the system.
Reasons linking temperature to energy:
• When energy is added to a system, particle motion increases → temperature
rises.
• When energy is removed, particle motion decreases → temperature drops.
• In gases, temperature is directly proportional to average kinetic energy:
𝑇 ∝ average kinetic energy
Therefore, temperature is a measure of how energy is distributed among particles.
(b) Does temperature change when energy is added to boiling water?
Answer:
No, the temperature does not increase.
Explanation:
• At boiling point, water is undergoing a phase change (liquid → gas).
• Added energy is used as latent heat to break intermolecular forces.
• This energy does not increase kinetic energy, so temperature remains
constant.
Temperature only increases after all water has vaporised.
(c) Temperature of hot coffee and surroundings
Answer:
• The hot coffee loses heat energy to the surroundings.
• Its temperature gradually decreases until it reaches room temperature.
• The surroundings gain heat energy, but their temperature change is usually very
small (because of large mass).
Eventually:𝑇coffee = 𝑇surroundings
Dear Student , type or hand write this is allowed and
I’m your private tutor iQ Level
PHY3703 consists of three (3) Formative Assessments, which must be submitted not
later than the due date provided on myUnisa.
All the assessment questions come from the prescribed textbook: Harvey Gould and
Jan Tobochnik, Statistical and Thermal Physics with computer applications, 2010,
Princeton University Press, Princeton, ISBN 9780691137445. Since this book will be
used for assignments, you should source it from local bookstores or online as soon as
possible.
Note that it is compulsory to submit all formative assessments for you to be admitted to
write the final examination.
The problems which you must Assessment 2 Assessment 3
work on are indicated in the
table below: Assessment 1
1.5 3.20 5.16
1.10 3.37 5.26
2.4 4.10 6.1
2.30 4.21 6.3
, Problem 1.5
(a) What is temperature & why is it related to energy?
Answer:
Temperature is a physical quantity that measures the degree of hotness or coldness of
a system. On a microscopic level, it is related to the average kinetic energy of
particles in the system.
Reasons linking temperature to energy:
• When energy is added to a system, particle motion increases → temperature
rises.
• When energy is removed, particle motion decreases → temperature drops.
• In gases, temperature is directly proportional to average kinetic energy:
𝑇 ∝ average kinetic energy
Therefore, temperature is a measure of how energy is distributed among particles.
(b) Does temperature change when energy is added to boiling water?
Answer:
No, the temperature does not increase.
Explanation:
• At boiling point, water is undergoing a phase change (liquid → gas).
• Added energy is used as latent heat to break intermolecular forces.
• This energy does not increase kinetic energy, so temperature remains
constant.
Temperature only increases after all water has vaporised.
(c) Temperature of hot coffee and surroundings
Answer:
• The hot coffee loses heat energy to the surroundings.
• Its temperature gradually decreases until it reaches room temperature.
• The surroundings gain heat energy, but their temperature change is usually very
small (because of large mass).
Eventually:𝑇coffee = 𝑇surroundings
