Physics Question

Question

The value of specific heat for copper is 390 J/kg⋅C°, for aluminum is 900 J/kg⋅C°, and for water is 4186 J/kg⋅C°.

 

(a) What will be the equilibrium temperature in degrees Celsius when a 265g block of copper at 235°C is placed in a 145g aluminum calorimeter cup containing 875g of water at 12.0°C ? 

Answer 1

Meg,

 

      Let Te be the equilibrium temperature of all three bodies

So the energy given up by the hot copper block (.265*390*(235-Te)) has to be equal to the energy gained by the cup and the water which is (.145*900*(Te-12) +.875*4186*(Te-12)) if energy is to be conserved.

 

Doing all the arithmetic I get 103.35*(235-Te)=3793.25*(Te-12) from this if you solve for Te I got Te=17.91 deg C.

 

You can see from the equation above that the water absorbs most of the heat.

 

Regards

Jim