Question

A chemistry student wants to know the specific heat capacity of aluminum. The student has an aluminum block weighing 100 grams at a temperature of 20°C. The student heats the block until its temperature reaches 90°C by adding 500 Joules of heat. What is the specific heat capacity of aluminum?

Answer 1

To find the specific heat capacity of aluminum, we can use the formula:q = mcTwhere q is the heat added  in Joules , m is the mass of the aluminum block  in grams , c is the specific heat capacity  in J/gC , and T is the change in temperature  in C .We are given the following information:q = 500 Jm = 100 gT = 90C - 20C = 70CNow we can solve for the specific heat capacity  c :500 J =  100 g  * c *  70C To isolate c, we can divide both sides by  100 g * 70C :c = 500 J /  100 g * 70C c = 500 J / 7000 gCc  0.0714 J/gCThe specific heat capacity of aluminum is approximately 0.0714 J/gC.