What the objects do
Block or beaker: select it to weigh it, capture its reading or inspect its mass. The balance is at the left of the bench. Beaker readings exclude the vessel’s tare mass.
Orange heater: drag onto a sample or use Connect to sample. Click its switch on the bench or use Heater on/off. Power is electrical energy transferred each second.
Blue probe: insert it into the sample. Its display measures that sample only while connected. A detached probe is not a sample measurement.
Insulation jacket: wrap a sample to reduce exchange with the room. Choose material and thickness in its object controls.
Drag a loose object to move it. Attached instruments move with their sample. Use Detach before moving one independently. Arrow keys move a focused loose object; Shift + arrows move by a smaller amount. Escape cancels a drag.
The physics and model limits
E = mcΔT applies within a single phase. E = mL applies to a complete phase change. Heating changes internal energy; temperature describes average particle kinetic energy, not the total energy of a sample.
The model uses uniform sample temperature, constant heat capacities and effective Newton cooling: Ploss = K(T − 20 °C). Heat losses are signed: a cold sample gains energy from the room. Jacket coefficients are illustrative, not measured manufacturer data.
Water melts at 0 °C and boils at 100 °C at one atmosphere. Vessel and heater heat capacities, spatial gradients and evaporation below boiling are omitted. At complete vaporisation the heater switches off and the run ends for that sample. Blocks have a 180 °C heater cut-out.
Probe resolution: 0.1 °C, conservative reading bound ±0.2 °C; response time 1.2 s in realistic mode. Balance resolution 0.001 kg, bound ±0.001 kg. Energy resolution 1 J, bound ±1 J. No artificial random noise is added. Instrument bounds do not cover model approximations, probe lag or unknown losses.
Reference heat capacities (J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹): aluminium 900; copper 385; steel 490; brass 380; liquid water 4200. Fusion 334 kJ kg⁻¹; vaporisation 2260 kJ kg⁻¹. Rounded classroom values; real values depend on temperature and composition.
Particle animations illustrate arrangement and motion. They are enlarged and slowed, and do not represent individual molecules in the energy calculation.
Funnel and condenser practicals
Both ice funnels begin with 150 g of crushed ice at 0 °C. The insulated funnels have matched effective room-transfer coefficients. The unheated control isolates background melting. Changing only one funnel’s insulation breaks this assumption.
The steam flask starts with 200 g of water at 95 °C. It remains open to atmospheric pressure through the delivery tube, condenser and open receiver. Vapour takes an illustrative four seconds to cross the condenser. Cooling capacity is water flow × 4200 × 40 J/s, representing a maximum 40 °C coolant rise; condensing and cooling each kilogram to 20 °C releases 2260 kJ + 336 kJ. Insufficient flow lets some vapour escape.
Drops follow gravity in an illustrative coordinate scale and are collected only if they cross a receiver’s mouth. The animation shows representative parcels; it is not a count of individual drops. Vessel and heater heat capacities, pressure changes, film retention and evaporation below boiling are omitted. Wait for steady flow before timing.
Apparatus references: Cambridge funnel practical, question 3 and RSC simple-distillation condenser layout. The pure-water latent-heat investigation adapts this condenser arrangement; it is not an AQA required practical.
Teacher and curriculum notes
AQA GCSE Physics 8463 required practical 1: specific heat capacity. Required practical 2: thermal insulation (separate Physics only). Phase changes and uncertainty connect the practical to the particle model. Loss correction is an extension using revealed model information.
Use Teacher view for larger readings. Lock apparatus in Apparatus & settings. Space starts/pauses when the bench has focus; C captures; R restarts. Real experiments still need to be performed: this lab supports preparation, explanation and analysis.
AQA practical assessment ↗