When very hot water is poured into a thin-walled glass container, it is less likely to break because

Analyze the question: Why does a thin-walled glass container resist breaking when very hot water is poured in?

Concept: Glass is a poor conductor of heat. When hot water touches the inner surface of a thick glass, the inner layer heats and expands quickly while the outer layer stays cool and does not expand. This uneven (differential) expansion creates stress, and the glass cracks.

Step-by-step solution:

1. In a thick-walled container, heat takes a long time to travel from the inner surface to the outer surface. The inner and outer layers are at different temperatures, so they expand by different amounts. This produces stress and breakage.
2. In a thin-walled container, the heat passes through the wall almost immediately. The inner and outer surfaces reach nearly the same temperature, so all parts expand together (uniformly) and there is little internal stress.

Checking the options:

• A. All parts of the container get heated uniformly. This matches the explanation above.
• B. Wrong. Glass can crack at high temperatures if the heating is uneven, so this is not the reason.
• C. Wrong. This has nothing to do with the spacing of molecules.
• D. Wrong. If the outer part were cooler than the inner part, that would cause breakage, which is the opposite of what is asked.
• E. Wrong. Thin glass expands just like thick glass. The difference is in how evenly it heats.

Answer: A

Exam tip: Remember "thin = even, thick = uneven." Glass breaks because of uneven expansion, not expansion itself. This is also why Pyrex glass, which has a low expansion coefficient, is used for laboratory and kitchen ware.