Some very hot rocks have a temperature of 260 ^o C and a specific heat of 20 J/(Kg*K). The rocks are bathed in 40 L of boiling water. If the heat of the rocks completely vaporizes the water, what is the minimum combined mass of the rocks?

1 Answer
Mar 16, 2018

The mass of the rocks is =28212.5kg

Explanation:

The heat transferred from the hot rocks to the water, is equal to the heat used to evaporate the water.

For the rocks DeltaT_o=260-100=160^@

Heat of vaporisation of water is

H_w=2257kJkg^-1

The specific heat of the rocks is

C_o=0.02kJkg^-1K^-1

Volume of water is V=40L

Density of water is rho=1kgL^-1

The mass of water is m_w=Vrho=40kg,

m_o C_o (DeltaT_o) = m_w H_w

m_o*0.02*160=40*2257

The mass of the rocks is

m_o=(40*2257)/(0.02*160)

=28212.5kg