Question

A 6.00 kg piece of solid copper metal at an initial temperature T is placed with 2.00 kg of ice that is initially at -10.0 ∘C. The ice is in an insulated container of negligible mass and no heat is exchanged with the surroundings. After thermal equilibrium is reached, there is 0.50 kg of ice and 1.50 kg of liquid water.

Required:
What was the initial temperature of the piece of copper?

Answer 1

Answer:

$T = 235.134^{\textdegree}C$

Explanation:

The process is modelled after the First Law of Thermodynamics:

$(6000\,g) \cdot \left(0.385\,\frac{J}{g\cdot ^{\textdegree}C} \right)\cdot (T -0^{\textdegree}C ) = (2000\,g)\cdot \left(2.108\,\frac{J}{g\cdot ^{\textdegree}C} \right)\cdot [0^{\textdegree}C -(-10^{\textdegree}C)] + (1500\,g)\cdot \left(334\,\frac{J}{g} \right)$

The initial temperature of the piece of solid copper is:

$T = 235.134^{\textdegree}C$