A piece of metal A and a piece of metal B of the same mass and at the same temperature of 80°C are dropped into seperate beakers each containing 100.0 g of water at room temperature. Once they equilibrate, you find that the beaker with the sample of metal A is warmer than the beaker with the sample of metal B. Which metal has the larger specific heat capacity?
obviously, A has more stored heat.
To determine which metal has the larger specific heat capacity, we can analyze the heat transfer between the metal samples and the water in the beakers.
First, let’s understand the concept of specific heat capacity. The specific heat capacity (c) is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a substance by a certain amount. It is a property of the substance and differs from one material to another.
We know that the masses of metal A and metal B are the same, and both were initially at the same temperature. We also know that the beaker with metal A is warmer than the beaker with metal B after they equilibrate. This means that metal A must have transferred more heat energy to the water compared to metal B.
Since the masses are the same, the temperature difference can be attributed to the specific heat capacity of the metals. The metal with the larger specific heat capacity would require more heat energy to raise its temperature by the same amount as the other metal. Therefore, metal A must have the larger specific heat capacity since it transferred more heat energy to the water and ended up being warmer.
In conclusion, metal A has the larger specific heat capacity.
To determine which metal has the larger specific heat capacity, we need to understand the concept of specific heat capacity. Specific heat capacity is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a substance by one degree Celsius (or one Kelvin) per unit mass.
In this scenario, we have two equal masses of metal A and metal B, both at the same initial temperature and dropped into separate beakers containing the same amount of water. The difference in their final equilibrated temperatures indicates the different transfer of heat between the metals and the water.
To find the specific heat capacity, we can use the equation:
Heat energy = mass * specific heat capacity * change in temperature
Since the masses of both metal A and metal B are the same, we can simplify the equation to:
Heat energy = specific heat capacity * change in temperature.
In this case, both metals are dropped into separate beakers of water at room temperature. As the metals equilibrate, the temperature of the water in each beaker increases due to the transfer of heat energy from the metals to the water.
Since the beaker with the metal A sample is warmer, it means that metal A transferred more heat energy to the water than metal B did. This suggests that metal A has a lower specific heat capacity than metal B because it requires less heat energy to increase its temperature by the same amount compared to metal B.
Therefore, the metal with the larger specific heat capacity is metal B, as it took more heat energy to raise its temperature by the same amount as metal A.