Answer:
The slope of the graph in a heating curve reflects the specific heat capacity of the substance. For water and steam, a less steep slope for water than for steam implies that water requires more energy to raise its temperature, indicating that water has a larger specific heat compared to steam.
Step-by-step explanation:
The slope of the graph in a heating curve is related to the specific heat of the substance. In the context of water and steam, the specific heat capacity is a measure of how much energy, in joules, is required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree Celsius. When considering the slopes during the phases where water and steam temperatures are rising, the slope for liquid water is less steep compared to the slope for steam. This indicates that it takes more heat energy to raise the temperature of liquid water than it does for steam, meaning that the specific heat of water is larger than that of steam.
The correct answer to the student's question, by comparing the slope during the time of liquid water warming to the time of steam warming, is A: the specific heat of water is larger than that of steam.