Question

An unknown metal is found in the lab. It is shiny and looks valuable, but the students aren't sure. The teacher recommends doing a calorimetry experiment to determine the identity of the metal. The students use 100 grams of water at 25.0C. They heat up 150 grams of the metal from 23.5C to 204.5C before placing it in the water. The final temperature of the water and the metal was 39.0C. Is the metal valuable, why or why not?

Answer 1

Based on the results from the calorimetry experiment, it can be concluded that the metal is valuable due to its relatively high specific heat capacity. The fact that it took a lot of energy (150 grams times 181 degrees Celsius, or 27,150 joules of energy) to heat the metal up to 204.5C suggests that it has a relatively high specific heat capacity. High heat capacity metals are often more valuable, as they are better able to withstand extreme temperatures and thus can be used more versatilely.