Question

An object with a mass of `50 g` is dropped into `300 mL` of water at `0^@C`. If the object cools by `80 ^@C` and the water warms by `5 ^@C`, what is the specific heat of the material that the object is made of?

Answer 1

Specific heat of the material that the object is made of is `0.375`.

Explanation:

Let the specific heat of the object of mass `50g` be `s`. As the object cools by `80^oC`, heat lost by it s

`50xx80xxs=4000s`

Heat gained by water (assuming container has not gained any heat) is `300xx5xx1=1500` - as each `mL` of water is `1g`.

Hence `4000s=1500` and `s=1500/4000=0.375`