Final answer:
The student is given information about three fins made of different materials and their specific properties. The specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the materials can be used to calculate heat transfer and temperature changes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is provided with information about three different fins characterized by differences. All fins have a length of 1m and a constant base temperature of 100°C, with an ambient air temperature of about 21°C. The first fin is made of Stainless Steel, Type 304 with a diameter of 1 inch and specific properties: ⍴ = 7900 kg/m^3, heat capacity Cp = 477 J/kg K, k = 14.9 W/mK.
Specific heat capacity is an intensive property that depends only on the kind of substance absorbing or releasing heat. For example, the specific heat of iron (the material used to make a small cast iron frying pan) is 0.449 J/g °C. Water has a relatively high specific heat (about 4.2 J/g °C for the liquid) compared to most metals, which have much lower specific heats (usually less than 1 J/g °C).
Given the information about the fins, the student can calculate heat transfer, temperature changes, and the final temperatures using the specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the materials involved.