# Heating Curves & Specific Heat - phase changes, heat, engines

> Heating curve of ice to steam with a particle model, crystalline vs amorphous solids, specific heat, mixing, fuel efficiency, a four-stroke engine and quizzes.

- URL: https://qilingtools.com/en/physics/heating-curve
- Category: Physics Tools (https://qilingtools.com/en/physics)
- Tags: [Physics](https://qilingtools.com/en/tags/physics), [Education](https://qilingtools.com/en/tags/education)
- Last updated: 2026-10-29
- Price: Free, no sign-up
- Privacy: Runs locally in the browser; files are never uploaded

Heat a block of ice and watch the temperature–time graph flatten twice, at melting and at boiling, while a particle model turns from a regular solid lattice into a liquid and then a gas. The heat for each stage is worked out with Q = mcΔT, Q = λm and Q = Lm. You can also change the pressure to see boiling points in a pressure cooker or at altitude, compare a crystalline and an amorphous solid, run a specific-heat comparison, mix bodies to thermal equilibrium (including ice and water), work out fuel efficiency, watch a four-stroke engine, and quiz yourself on the six phase changes.

## How to use

1. On the first tab set the mass, start and end temperatures and heating power, then press Heat
2. Change the pressure to move the boiling point, and compare the crystalline and amorphous curves
3. Enter data in the specific heat, equilibrium and fuel tabs to see each calculation
4. Take the phase-change quiz and the random calculation problems

## Features

- Ice → water → steam heating curve with melting and boiling plateaus
- Particle model of solid, liquid and gas
- Boiling point vs pressure; crystalline vs amorphous melting and freezing curves
- Specific-heat comparison and multi-body thermal equilibrium with ice–water handling
- Fuel heat value and efficiency, animated four-stroke engine
- Phase-change quiz with heat absorbed or released, plus random calculations

## FAQ

### Why does the temperature stay constant while ice melts?

Ice is crystalline with a fixed melting point. The heat absorbed while melting breaks up the regular arrangement of the molecules instead of making them move faster, so the temperature stays at 0 °C until all the ice has melted. Boiling water stays at its boiling point for the same reason.

### How do melting curves of crystalline and amorphous solids differ?

A crystalline solid such as ice or sodium thiosulfate shows a flat section at its melting point. An amorphous solid such as paraffin wax, rosin or glass has no fixed melting point: it softens gradually and its temperature keeps rising, so there is no flat section.

### Why does heating time measure the heat absorbed in a specific heat experiment?

Identical heaters deliver the same heat in the same time, so both liquids absorb equal heat. With equal masses and equal starting temperatures, the liquid that warms more slowly has the larger specific heat capacity.

### Is the final temperature always 0 °C when ice and water are mixed?

No. If the water cannot supply enough heat to melt all the ice (or the ice cannot absorb enough to freeze all the water), the result is an ice–water mixture at 0 °C. If there is enough heat to melt all the ice, the final temperature is above 0 °C. The tool checks the heat balance first and reports the final temperature and how much ice melted.

### A four-stroke engine turns at 1800 r/min. How many power strokes per second?

1800 r/min is 30 turns per second. One cycle has four strokes (intake, compression, power, exhaust) and takes two turns, with one power stroke. So there are 15 cycles, 60 strokes and 15 power strokes per second.

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