An object with a mass of #100 g# is dropped into #400 mL# of water at #0^@C#. If the object cools by #20 ^@C# and the water warms by #4 ^@C#, what is the specific heat of the material that the object is made of?

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Answer 1 · 2017-04-15T11:50:03

The specific heat is #=3.35kJkg^-1K^-1#

The heat is transferred from the hot object to the cold water.

For the cold water, # Delta T_w=4ºC#

For the object #DeltaT_o=20ºC#

# m_o C_o (DeltaT_o) = m_w C_w (DeltaT_w)#

#C_w=4.186kJkg^-1K^-1#

Let, #C_o# be the specific heat of the object

#0.1*C_o*20=0.4*4.186*4#

#C_o=(0.4*4.186*4)/(0.1*20)#

#=3.35kJkg^-1K^-1#