Hannah is designing a pot and spoon that will be used to prepare food. She would like the pot to heat up quickly and the spoon to remain cool to the touch. Hannah reviews the specific heats of several materials listed in the chart below.
Material Specific Heat (J/kg°C)
Copper 385
Rubber 1250
Steel 490
Wood 1600
Which materials should Hannah choose for her pot and spoon?
A
Hannah should choose copper for her pot because it has the lowest specific heat, and she should choose wood for her spoon because it has the highest specific heat.
B
Hannah should choose wood for her pot because it has the highest specific heat, and she should choose copper for her spoon because it has the lowest specific heat.
C
Hannah should choose wood for her pot because it has the highest specific heat, and she should choose rubber for her spoon because it has the second highest specific heat.
D
Hannah should choose copper for her pot because it has the lowest specific heat, and she should choose steel because it has the second lowest specific heat.
A
Hannah should choose copper for her pot because it has the lowest specific heat, which means it will heat up quickly. She should choose wood for her spoon because it has the highest specific heat, which means it will remain cool to the touch.
A
Hannah should choose copper for her pot because it has the lowest specific heat, and she should choose wood for her spoon because it has the highest specific heat.
In order to determine which materials Hannah should choose for her pot and spoon, we need to consider their specific heats and the desired properties.
The specific heat of a material represents how much heat energy is required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of the material by 1 degree Celsius. A lower specific heat indicates that the material heats up more quickly, while a higher specific heat means that it takes more energy to heat the material.
For the pot, Hannah wants it to heat up quickly. Therefore, she should choose a material with a low specific heat. Looking at the options provided, copper has the lowest specific heat value of 385 J/kg°C. So, Hannah should choose copper for her pot.
For the spoon, Hannah wants it to remain cool to the touch. This means that it should not easily absorb and retain heat. Therefore, she should choose a material with a high specific heat, as these materials require more energy to heat up. Among the options given, wood has the highest specific heat value of 1600 J/kg°C. Hence, Hannah should choose wood for her spoon.
Based on the above reasoning, the correct choice for Hannah's pot and spoon is:
D) Hannah should choose copper for her pot because it has the lowest specific heat, and she should choose steel because it has the second lowest specific heat.