Answer the following question given this paragraph: 

The heating curve shown is for water but other substances have similarly shaped heating curves. Suppose you begin with solid water (ice) at -30°C and add heat at a constant rate. The heat you add in the beginning will be absorbed as kinetic energy and the temperature of the solid will increase. When you reach a temperature of 0°C (the melting point for water), the heat you add is no longer absorbed as kinetic energy. Instead, the added heat is absorbed as potential energy and the particles separate from each other. During the flat part of the curve labeled “melting”, heat is being added constantly but the temperature does not increase. At the left edge of this flat line, the water is solid; by the time enough heat has been added to get to the right edge, the water is liquid, but maintains the same temperature. Once all the water is in the liquid form, the added heat will once again be absorbed as kinetic energy and the temperature will increase again. During the time labeled “water being heated as a liquid”, all the added heat is absorbed as kinetic energy.


Q: In what form is the heat absorbed when you heat ice and it reaches a temperature of 0 c?

 Choices:

- geothermal energy

- mechanical energy

- radiation energy

- potential energy

A:
potential energy
