what is the specific heat of the metal.

Question

a lump of an unknow metal has a mas of 92.5 grams and a temperature of 89.5. it is placed into a caloriemeter with 75.2 ml of water at 20.5. the final temperature of the water is 27.4.

Answer 1

To find the specific heat of a metal, we must use the following equations:

We need to find the heat gained by the water, which will equal the heat lost by the metal (Thermodynamics):

Let's find the mass of water to add to the equation:

75.2 mL of water * 1.00 g/mL (density of water) = 75.2 grams of water

Let's understand the specific heat of water:

This is a common specific heat that needs to be memorized, 4.179 Joules per (gram * ºC)


q(heat gained by water) = mass (water) X specific heat (water) X deltaT

q = 75.2 grams X 4.179 J/gC X (27.4 C - 20.5 C)

q = 2170 J or 2.17 kJ (using sigfigs)

q(heat gained by water) = q (heat lost by metal)

 

Let's rearrange out specific heat equation to solve for the specific heat of the unknown metal:

 

specific heat (metal) = 2170 J (heat lost by metal) / ((92.5 g (metal) X deltaT(27.4 - 89.5))  ---***--- DeltaT uses absolute value

 

c (metal) = .378 J/g * C

 

q =