Internal energy and energy transfers

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Question 13
Medium

A space probe's infrared sensor is kept cool using an open-cycle liquid helium cryostat. Over a telemetry monitoring period of 45 minutes45\text{ minutes}45 minutes, a certain mass of liquid helium is vaporised by heat leaking into the vessel and is subsequently vented into space.

Explain how an astrophysicist could use the measured mass of vaporised helium, the monitoring duration, and the standard value for the specific latent heat of vaporisation of helium to estimate the average rate of parasitic heat leak (thermal power) into the cryostat in watts.

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Internal energy and energy transfers Questions

  1. GCSE
  2. /Physics
  3. /Internal energy and energy transfers