John found that the temperature of her aluminium container of mass 500g fell from 50°C to 35°C.

Question

Calculate the amount of heat lost by the container. The specific heat capacity of aluminium is 900]/Kg°C.

Answer 1

You want to utilize the equation:

where Q is the heat, m is the mass, C_p is the specific heat capacity, and ΔT is the temperature change.

In this case, m = 500 grams which is 0.5 kg, and Cp = 900 J/(kg°C) and ΔT = -15°C (35 - 50) so:

Q = (0.5)(900)(-15) = -6750 joules (the negative means heat lost)