The Human Torch, a member of the Fantastic Four, once faced the task of melting,

Question

The Human Torch, a member of the Fantastic Four, once faced the task of melting, then refreezing, huge ice blocks that had broken free at the polar ice caps. Needing a tremendous amount of energy to do the job, the Torch "plunged" into our sun to absorb the necessary energy. Assuming that the Torch could retain this energy on his return to Earth, how much thermal energy do you think the Torch could absorb? And as the Torch released this energy, how much would the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere increase? Make whatever assumptions you need to answer these questions.

Explanation / Answer

According to the given problem,

There's no right answer to this problem.

How big is this human Torch?
How hot would he get?
What is his heat capacity
How big are the icebergs?
etc, etc, etc

Make some estimates.
The energy once you determine on a reasonable or best guess for the ice is that the amount of energy to melt them = mass * heat of fusion.

Do you treat the Torch like a solid? What heat capacity? What temperature

energy = mass * specific heat * temperature change

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