Final answer:
The work done by copper when heated from 20°C to 50°C is traditionally considered to be negligible, as solids generally do not expand enough at atmospheric pressure to perform significant work.
Step-by-step explanation:
The work done by copper when heated can be found by considering the type of work involved. When a solid is heated, it generally undergoes thermal expansion. However, without additional information about the expansion of copper or the external pressure, we cannot calculate a precise value for work done in this scenario. Assuming that the volume change is negligible (as is often the case for solids), the work done by the copper due to expansion is also negligible. Instead, the energy supplied to the copper increases its internal energy and is not used for work against the atmosphere.
Therefore, under usual circumstances with a negligible change in volume, the work done by 1.0 kg of copper as it is heated from 20°C to 50°C would be close to zero, when only considering pressure-volume work.