a kilogram of aluminum metal and a kilogram of water are each warmed to 75 degree celisus and placed in two identical insulated containers. one hour later, the two containers are opened and the temperture of each substance is measured. the aluminum has cooled to 35 degree celisius while the water has cooled only to 66 degree celsius. Explain this difference.
The heat capacity is the reason.
1,000 g Al x 0.9 J/g*C = ??
1,000 g H2O x 4.18 J/g*C = ??
The water holds more heat than does the Al block; therefore, it takes longer for the water to cool.
Here is a site that talks more about heat capacity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_capacity
so is it 900 and 4180 is that the difference???
Yes, that is how much more heat the water holds than the Al.
The difference in cooling temperatures between the aluminum and water can be explained by their respective specific heat capacities. Specific heat capacity is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a substance by a certain amount.
In this case, aluminum has a lower specific heat capacity compared to water. This means that aluminum requires less heat energy to raise its temperature by a certain amount compared to water. Therefore, when both substances were warmed to 75 degrees Celsius, the aluminum absorbed less heat energy than the water.
When the containers were opened, both substances started losing heat to the surrounding environment. However, because the aluminum had absorbed less heat energy to begin with, it also released less heat energy during the cooling process. As a result, its temperature dropped more quickly and reached 35 degrees Celsius after one hour.
On the other hand, the water, which had absorbed more heat energy due to its higher specific heat capacity, released more heat energy during the cooling process. Consequently, its temperature dropped more slowly and only reached 66 degrees Celsius after one hour.
In summary, the lower specific heat capacity of aluminum compared to water resulted in it cooling down more quickly and reaching a lower temperature in the given time period.