Question

garrett had a red cooler and a blue cooler. the coolers were identical, and each was filled with four gallons of drinking water. this table shows how the temperature of each cooler of water changed over 1 hour.

cooler of water	initial temperature (°c)	final temperature (°c)
red cooler of water	3.4	5.5

the next time garrett uses a cooler, he does not want the water inside of it to warm up quickly. what should he do to minimize the rate of thermal energy transfer into the cooler of water?
options:

• use the blue cooler
• use the red cooler
• either; the rate of thermal energy transfer is the same whether the cooler is red or blue

Explanation:

To find the rate of temperature change (which relates to thermal energy transfer rate), calculate the temperature change for each cooler. For blue: \(5.2 - 3.1 = 2.1^\circ\text{C}\) per hour. For red: \(5.5 - 3.4 = 2.1^\circ\text{C}\) per hour. Since both have the same rate, thermal energy transfer rate is same.

Answer:

either; the rate of thermal energy transfer is the same whether the cooler is red or blue