A man pours some hot coffee into a small cup from a large jug that contains enough coffee for several cups. Which statement correctly compares the coffee in the cup and in the jug?

The correct answer is "The coffee in the jug has more thermal energy than the coffee in the cup".

Explanation:

First I had to look for the problem to know the possible answers.

In this case, the coffee jug has a large amount of coffee at the same temperature. If we analyze that the decanter and the coffee are at the same temperature, we have a homogeneous thermal system. The cup is at room temperature, so by pouring coffee into it, the temperature of the coffee decreases to balance with the temperature of the cup. At this moment, the temperature of the cup-cafe system is lower than the jug-cafe system.

Thermal energy is the part of the internal energy of an equilibrated thermodynamic system that is proportional to its absolute temperature and increases or decreases by energy transfer.

In this way, we can ensure that the thermal energy of the cup-cafe system is lower than that of the jug-cafe system.

Have a nice day!