Student handout: A glass of water

Energy and Entropy 2021 (2 years)
Students generate a list of properties a glass of water might have. The class then discusses and categorizes those properties.

We will be spending this course studying thermodynamics, which is the branch of physics that deals with the physical properties of matter and the laws that govern the properties of matter. Today we will be discussing what kinds of properties matter can have.

I'd like you all to start by pouring yourself a cup of water. I'll give you a moment to go to your kitchens. Then in your small groups I'd like you to brainstorm a list of all the properties that cup of water might have. Please limit yourselves to properties of the water itself , omitting any properties of the cup or the room around you.

Drinking half
If you drink half of your glass of water (feel free to do so), how will each of your properties change for the water that remains in the glass?

Keywords
thermodynamics intensive extensive temperature volume energy entropy
Learning Outcomes
  • ph423: 1) Use both dimensional reasoning and intensivity/extensivity to make sense of mathematical expressions involving thermodynamic variables