Common Assessment Task, Learning Sequence 2, 2017

Subject: Science Heat and Electricity

Year Level: 9

Student Declaration:
I declare that this assessment is my individual work after seeking and receiving feedback from my peers
and teacher. I have not copied from another students work or from any other source, except where due
acknowledgement is made explicit, nor has any part being written or completed for me by another
person.
Student Name:

Student Signature

Date:

This COMMON ASSESSMENT TASK will be used to measure your achievement against the skills and
understandings that we studied during this learning sequence.

You are required to complete each part of this assessment, and finish within the 4 periods allocated.

You need to work through the assessment from beginning to end, using the scaffolds and instructions
included within each part of the task.

Use your rubric and feedback from your teacher to guide you from one part of the assessment to the
next. Make sure you evaluate the accuracy and success of each part before moving on to the next. After
you complete your own checking, you need to show your teacher who will advise you if your work is at
the expected level.

This is an independent task but you may ask questions to clarify the requirements of the task.
Remember that your teacher will NOT do the work for you; he/she will help you with the thinking you
need to employ to complete the work.

Remember to organise your time appropriately so you can complete as much of the assessment task as
possible in the time given.

You are permitted to use the following resources during the Common Assessment Task: This is an open
book task, you may use your notes, textbook and computer to assist.

Common Assessment Task Overview

Plan and conduct an experiment to make an electric kettle to heat water as efficiently as possible
you will be required to select components and justify your selections as well as design and biuild the
electric circuit
Analyse the data you have collected
To calculate the resistance of you wire according to Ohms law and determine the power of the kettle
and how much energy is converted into heat energy
Evaluate the energy transformations occurring in reference to the particle theory of matter
Evaluate the quality of design and explain how the design could be improved
Section 1. Designing a kettle
You will design an electrical circuit to heat 100 mL of water as quickly as possible. You will need to select from the
following equipment and use the knowledge that you gathered during the learning sequence to decide which are
the best materials to use. You may refer back to the practicals you completed to help with your justification

Materials
variable power supply (power pack) or 6V battery
ammeter and voltmeter
6 connecting wires, with alligator clips
heatproof mat
thermometer or temperature probe (also requires laptop and wireless USB connector)
stopwatch
100 mL measuring cylinder
For each of the following sections select just one material you are going to use (tick the box)
kettle body
100 mL glass beaker
aluminium drinks can
Heating element
50 cm length of 20 swg (0.91 mm diameter) nichrome wire
50 cm length of 26 swg (0.46 mm diameter) nichrome wire
50 cm length of 32 swg (0.27 mm diameter) nichrome wire
100 cm length of 20 swg (0.91 mm diameter) nichrome wire
100 cm length of 26 swg (0.46 mm diameter) nichrome wire
100 cm length of 32 swg (0.27 mm diameter) nichrome wire

Insulating materials
aluminium foil
newspaper
bubble wrap
foam cooler

Risk assessment (you will not be allowed to start your experiment until this is
completed satisfactorily)
a. Identify potential safety risks for this investigation.
b. Describe how to manage these safety risks.

Hazard Risk Management strategies

Justification of selection of materials
For each of the decisions you made above, you must justify why you decided to use that
material or component to maximise the efficiency of your kettle. In your discussion, you explain make an
must write in full sentences and explain, using your understanding of the particle theory of idea or situation
clear by describing it
matter and heat transfer. You may wish to refer back to the practicals that you performed
in more detail and
throughout this unit. providing relevant
facts
Kettle Body
What material did you chose to use as your kettle body? Why do you believe that this is
Useful terms
Particle theory
the best material to use?
Energy transfer
Conductor
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Insulator
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Thermal Equilibrium
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Heating Element
What gauge and length of Nichrome wire did you chose to use for your heating element?
Useful terms
Resistance
Why do you believe that this is the best gauge and length to use?
Particle theory
Collisions
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Energy transfer
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Heat
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Insulating Material
What material, if any, are you going to use to insulate your can with? Why do you believe
Useful terms
Resistance
that this material will be the best to make the water heat the quickest?
Particle theory
Energy transfer
Heat
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Insulator
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Conductor
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Circuit

Draw a circuit diagram that you will use to heat the water including an ammeter and voltmeter correctly
connected in series or parallel.
Label all of your equipment including
the swg and length of nichrome wire
the kettle body (e.g. beaker or aluminium can)
the insulating material (if any)
the voltage you will use (maximum 6 V can be used)

Show your plan to your teacher and

get approval before starting this
experiment.
Conducting the experiment
Set up your circuit as you have drawn it above. DO NOT CONNECT THE POWER SUPPLY UNTIL
YOUR TEACHER HAS CHECKED THE SETUP
Using the measuring cylinder, add 100 mL of water to your kettle, ensure that the nichrome wire is
submerged in the water and that the alligator clips do not touch
Set the power supply to the voltage you have selected (Maximum of 6 V)
Record your results in the table below throughout the experiment. Stop recording after 10 minutes
You may use the data logger temperature probes to collect more accurate temperature readings
Time Temperature Ammeter reading Voltmeter reading Input Voltage
o
(mins) ( C) (amps) (volts)
0
1
2
3 This is the value you
4 set on the power
5 supply
6
7 OR
the Voltage recorded
on the battery
8
9
10

Data analysis
Plot a graph of temperature versus time. Include: title, axis titles and units and axis values
Section 1. Explaining how heating elements in electric kettles work
8 Electric appliances transform energy from one form to another. Describe the
describe give
main energy transformation that takes place in a kettle details to explain an
idea or situation

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9 Heat can be transferred in three ways; conduction, convection and radiation. state to say or
State how energy is transferred from the hot water around the heating element express something
to the rest of the water in the kettle and explain how this energy transfer occurs.

explain make an
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idea or situation
clear by describing it
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in more detail and
providing relevant
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facts
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10 Heating elements are made from metals that are electrical resistors. Ohms law shows how the current
changes when the voltage across a resistor is changed.
Relationships can be
a. described by explaining Write the formula for Ohms law (include units)
what happens to one
b. variable as another Describe the relationship between current and voltage.
variable changes
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(increases/ decreases)
and how it changes (e.g.
linearly, exponentially,
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inversely)
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11 Using the values from your experiment and the formula you provided for Ohms law in question 3a,
calculate the resistance of the nichrome wire in your experiment. Show your calculation to the right
Voltage = ______________________

Current = ______________________
 Resistance = ____________________

12 Using the particle theory, explain how electrical energy is transformed into heat when the resistor is
connected in an electric circuit. Draw a labelled diagram and provide a written explanation

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13 The power supplied to your electric kettle can be calculated using the formula P = VI (power = voltage
x current). Where voltage is the input voltage (the value on your power pack or the voltage of your
battery). The units of measurement of power are Watts (W)
The value for Current needs to
Input Voltage ___________________ be in Amps. If you recorded
mA you need to convert the
Current __________________ value by dividing it by 1000.
E.g. 100mA = 0.100A
Power = V x I = __________________ 75mA = 0.075 A

9. While the kettle was running, some of the power was used up as
the electrical energy was converted to heat energy. Using the values
you recorded in your experiment for current and voltage, and the
formula above, calculate how much power in Watts (W) remains in the electric kettle.

Input Voltage ___________________

Current ___________________
Power = V x I = __________________

10. Calculate the power lost as heat by subtracting the value in question 7 from the value in
question 6.

Input power (Q6) = ___________________

Power remaining (Q7) = ___________________

Power lost as heat = ___________________

14 You can now calculate the amount of heat energy that was produced by your kettle. Using the value for
the power lost as heat, calculated in question 8, and the formula below. Calculate how much energy in
Joules (J) this relates to. The time is how long the kettle was running for. Remember to convert your
time to seconds.

power (Q 8) P
Energy (J) = = , power is in W and time in s
time t
Energy = _________________________ (time in mins = __________
time in sec = __________)

11. It takes 4.18 Joules of energy to raise 1 g of water by just 1 C this is known as the specific heat
capacity of water. It would therefore take 418 Joules to raise 100 g of water by 1 C. Using the energy
you calculated in question 9, what temperature should your water have increased by?
energy E
Change in temperature (C) = =
specific heat capacity x mass cxm
Energy (Q9) = ___________________

c = ___________________

m = ___________________ (the mass of water used in g = volume of water in mL)

change in temperature = ____________________

12. What was the actual change in temperature recorded in your experiment? Why do you think
these values are not the same? What could have happened to the missing heat?
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Evaluation

Looking at each aspect of your kettle, what could be done to improve the efficiency and output of the kettle.
Discuss, the kettle body, the heating element and the insulating material.
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Think about the aspects of the kettle that you had no control over (e.g. the maximum or minimum size and gauge
of the wire, the input voltage, the shape and design of the kettle, the different insulating materials). What could you
change to improve the design even more if you were not limited by these factors.

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