The specific heat of aluminum calculated from her data

Question

In the laboratory a student finds that it takes 151 Joules to increase the temperature of 12.2 grams of solid aluminum from 21.8 to 36.6 degrees Celsius.

The specific heat of aluminum calculated from her data is ______________ J/g°C.

Answer 1

Based on the unit of the specific heat, that is Joule per gram per degree, it means energy NEEDED/released by INCREASING/decreasing temperature of one gram of a certain substance by 1 degree Celsius (or Kelvin).

Mathematically, Q = mc Delta T, easily remembered as MCAT, A for delta in Greek language, change of temperature = final temp - initial temp, then values and units are plugged in,

151 J = 12.2 g x C(Al) x (36.6 - 21.8) °C

Therefore, the specific heat of Al = 151 J / (12.2 g x 14.8 C) = 0.836 J/g°C