Question

A 20.00 g sample of a metal at 99.3°C is added to a calorimeter containing 50.00 g of water at 24.8°C. The temperature of the water in the calorimeter containing the metal rises to 30.8°C. Calculate the specific heat of the metal.

a) 0.25 J/g°C
b) 0.50 J/g°C
c) 0.75 J/g°C
d) 1.00 J/g°C

Answer 1

To calculate the specific heat of the metal, use the formulas for heat transfer and set the heat transferred to the water equal to the heat transferred from the metal. The specific heat of the metal is 0.75 J/g°C.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the specific heat of the metal, we can use the formula:

q = mcΔT

Where:

• q is the heat transferred
• m is the mass
• c is the specific heat
• ΔT is the change in temperature

In this case, the heat transferred to the water can be calculated using:

q(water) = mcΔT

And the heat transferred from the metal can be calculated using:

q(metal) = mcΔT

Since the water and metal reach the same temperature, we can set the two equations equal to each other and solve for c(metal).

Using the given values and solving the equation, we find that the specific heat of the metal is 0.75 J/g°C.