Snow has a very high latent heat in that it takes a lot of energy to melt the snow without ____.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Latent heat refers to the amount of energy required to change a substance from one state to another without changing its temperature. In this case, the snow is transitioning from a solid to a liquid state (melting), so the energy required to do so is the latent heat of fusion. If the temperature were raised, it would increase the amount of heat energy in the system and make it easier to melt the snow, so this is not the answer. Similarly, decreasing the temperature would make it more difficult to melt the snow. Sublimation refers to the process of turning a solid directly into a gas, bypassing the liquid phase, so this is not the answer. Increasing the specific heat would mean that more energy is required to increase the temperature of a substance, but it would not change the amount of energy required to melt the snow. Therefore, the correct answer is C - raising the temperature is not an effective way to melt snow without using a lot of energy.

Snow Has a Very High Latent Heat in That It