Question

In the laboratory a student uses a "coffee cup" calorimeter to determine the specific heat of a metal.

She heats 19.5 grams of tungsten to 97.80°C and then drops it into a cup containing 78.3 grams of water at 22.58°C. She measures the final temperature to be 23.20°C.

Assuming that all of the heat is transferred to the water, she calculates the specific heat of tungsten to be J/g°C.

Answer 1

Answer : The specific heat of tungsten is, $0.139J/g^oC$

Explanation :

In this problem we assumed that heat given by the hot body is equal to the heat taken by the cold body.

$q_1=-q_2$

$m_1\times c_1\times (T_f-T_1)=-m_2\times c_2\times (T_f-T_2)$

where,

$c_1$ = specific heat of tungsten = ?

$c_2$ = specific heat of water = $4.18J/g^oC$

$m_1$ = mass of tungsten = 19.5 g

$m_2$ = mass of water = 78.5 g

$T_f$ = final temperature = $23.20^oC$

$T_1$ = initial temperature of tungsten = $97.80^oC$

$T_2$ = initial temperature of water = $22.58^oC$

Now put all the given values in the above formula, we get

$19.5g\times c_1\times (23.20-97.80)^oC=-78.5g\times 4.18J/g^oC\times (23.20-22.58)^oC$

$c_1=0.139J/g^oC$

Therefore, the specific heat of tungsten is, $0.139J/g^oC$