Which one is it?

Question

When equal masses of water and of methane gas absorb the same amount of heat, the change in temperature of the methane is greater than the change in temperature of the water. Which property helps to explain this difference?
A. Volume

B. Forces between molecules

C. Latent heat of vaporization

 

D. Melting point

Answer 1

I would say B because we are essentially comparing specific heats for each substance.

 

The specific heat of water is 75.28 J/mol K

 

The specific heat of methane is 35.7 J/mol K

 

If we assume the same amount of heat absorbed for the two different substances, then water is more capable of having a smaller change in temperature compared to methane.  This is due to polarity and hydrogen bonding (water has stronger intermolecular bonds than methane because methane only has van der Waals forces).  It takes more energy to break these bonds than methane, therefore, we would expect water to have a higher specific heat due to these strong forces.