This week we are going to dig even deeper from a previous post on pizza by studying a few concepts I have included within the Classic Science: Physical Science curriculum. Let’s see how our four main concepts of science relates to the concepts of heat and temperature…
Okay…
It is dinner time and you are very hungry! Your pizza just got out of the oven and you are ready to eat!
You let it rest on the plate for a few minutes to cool off…
You carefully grab the crust and you find that it is not too hot. So you pick up the pizza and take a huge bite out of your slice…
OWWW! The pizza sauce is still too hot!
How could this happen? The crust was fine, but the sauce was still too hot! I am sure you will understand what is going on after we take a closer look at two scientific concepts:
Thermal Energy and Heat
Before we jump into these new concepts, let’s review a few things:
ATOMIC PIZZA ON THE MOVE…
Everything in the universe is made up of ATOMS which are always in motion. That’s right! If you could see every atom within your pizza you would find each of them moving around a bit. Even the atoms that make up the solid crust would be vibrating in place!
All of this motion can be measured just like everything else in the world! Scientists call the measurement of energy in moving atoms – thermal energy. The cool thing about thermal energy is that it can move too!
What we call heat is really the movement of thermal energy from a hotter object to a colder object. This means that energy, like ATOMS, can go through DIFFUSION! Another way to say this is: Large areas of ENERGY tend to move to areas that do not have as much ENERGY.
HOW DENSE IS YOUR PIZZA?
The DIFFUSION of heat energy depends on a lot of different factors.
One of these factors is the DENSITY of the object that is transferring the energy! Some objects (like the water within your pizza sauce) can hold onto a lot more energy than other objects (like the crust of your pizza.)
It is the different DENSITIES between the sauce and crust that causes the four-alarm fire in your mouth when you bite down into your pizza!
Let’s take a closer look at that slice of pizza again!
When you pulled your pizza out of the oven, the crust and the sauce was at the same temperature. This is because you pulled them both out of the same oven at the same time!
But even though both the crust and the sauce are at the same temperature …the sauce has more thermal energy inside it!
When you bite into the pizza, thermal energy DIFFUSES between the pizza (higher temperature) and your mouth (lower temperature). Since the sauce has much more thermal energy to give off, it burns you! OUCH!
THE LAW OF CONSERVATION… OF PIZZA?
It is true that the LAW OF CONSERVATION states that ATOMS cannot be created or destroyed, only rearranged. However, this law also applies to energy as well…
The LAW OF CONSERVATION of ENERGY states that ENERGY cannot be created or destroyed only moved from one place to another.
This means that none of the energy from the pizza that burned the roof of your mouth was destroyed. It only moved from the pizza INTO your mouth. See, doesn’t that make you feel better? Now, if you don’t mind, all this talk about pizza has made me a little hungry. I’m out of here!
Check out the Classic Science: Physical Science curriculum to learn more about ATOMS, DENSITY, DIFFUSION, and the LAW OF CONSERVATION!
Also be certain to subscribe to Mr.Q’s blog every Thursday to learn more about how to teach science with cheap, everyday items!
