I am still new to physics, so I'm having a rough time. When a 1kg metal pan containing 1kg of cold water is removed from a refrigerator onto a table which absorbs more heat from the room, the pan or the water? I thought it was the water, because I thought I read that water has greater specific heat than just about any other substance. I'm just not sure.
Thanks for any help I can get.
No problem, I'm here to help! In this scenario, both the metal pan and the water will absorb heat from the room, but the water will absorb more heat compared to the pan. Here's why:
The ability of a substance to absorb heat is measured by its specific heat capacity. Specific heat capacity is defined as the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a given mass of a substance by one degree Celsius (or one Kelvin).
Water has a relatively high specific heat capacity compared to many other substances, which means it requires more heat energy to raise its temperature compared to other materials. This is why water is often referred to as having a "high heat capacity."
In your case, when a 1kg metal pan containing 1kg of cold water is removed from a refrigerator onto a table, both the pan and the water will be in contact with the room temperature. However, the water will absorb more heat from the room compared to the pan. This is because the water has a higher specific heat capacity than the metal pan.
To summarize, the water absorbs more heat from the room because it has a higher specific heat capacity, which means it requires more heat energy to increase its temperature. The metal pan, on the other hand, will also absorb some heat, but it will heat up faster compared to the water due to its lower specific heat capacity.
Remember, understanding specific heat capacity and how it affects heat absorption can be helpful in various situations where heat transfer is involved.
When a 1kg metal pan containing 1kg of cold water is removed from a refrigerator onto a table, there are two factors to consider: the specific heat capacity and the difference in temperature between the pan and the water.
Specific heat capacity is a measure of how much heat energy is required to raise the temperature of a substance by a certain amount. Water has a higher specific heat capacity compared to most other substances, which means it can absorb more heat energy per kilogram without experiencing a significant increase in temperature.
However, in this scenario, the question is about which absorbs more heat from the room between the pan and the water. The answer depends on the initial temperature of the pan and water, as well as the room temperature.
Since the pan is initially in the refrigerator, it is colder than the water and the room temperature. As a result, initially, the pan absorbs heat from the warmer room and starts to increase in temperature towards the room temperature.
At the same time, the water in the pan absorbs some heat from the surrounding room but also from the warmer pan. However, due to the higher specific heat capacity of water, it takes more heat energy to increase the temperature of the water compared to the pan.
Therefore, in this specific scenario, the pan will likely absorb more heat from the room initially, until it reaches the same temperature as the room. However, the water will still be absorbing heat from the pan and the room, just at a slower rate due to its higher specific heat capacity.
It is important to note that this analysis assumes that there is no heat transfer occurring through the table or any other factors influencing the rates of heat absorption. In real situations, other variables might come into play, but based on the specific information provided, the pan would absorb more heat from the room initially, while the water absorbs heat at a slower rate due to its higher specific heat capacity.