Question

Which of the following is a type of latent heat?
A. Latent heat of fusion
B. Latent heat of vaporization
C. Both A and B
D. None of above

Answer 1

Latent heat is the form of heat that is needed by a body to change its form or state. The latent heat absorbed by the body does not increase the temperature of the body rather it brings about a change in the state of the body such as converting it from a liquid to gas state.

Complete answer:
The latent heats are the amount of heat energy needed by a compound to change its state. They are called latent because there are no temperature differences observed. The latent heat exists whenever a compound changes its state. When it goes from solid to liquid it is called the latent heat of fusion. When that liquid absorbs heat and becomes vapor, it is called the latent heat of vaporization and when vapor is directly formed from solids it is called latent heat of sublimation. All these are the type of latent heats. From all this we can see that the correct option is C, i.e. Both A and B. Option A is Latent heat of fusion which as we have discussed is the heat required for solid to change to liquid and option B is Latent heat of vaporization, which is the heat required to change liquid to vapor.

So, the correct answer is “Option C”.

Note:
The name latent heat is given because we don’t observe the change due to heat in its most common form i.e. rise in temperature. But the change is seen in the form of change of state of the compound. For example water changes from liquid form to vapor at ${{100}^{o}}C$ and the temperature of the new state formed is also ${{100}^{o}}C$.