Question

A copper cylinder has a mass of 76.8 g and a specific heat of 0.092 cal/g.C. It is heated to 86.5 degrees C from 19.5 degrees C. What is the specific heat of copper. (How much energy do you need to heat it?)

Answer 1

Given:

The mass of the copper cylinder is: m = 76.8 g = 0.0768 kg

The change in the temperature is: T = 86.5 deg C - 19.5 deg C = 67 deg C

The specific heat is: c = 0.092 cal/g.C

To find:

Heat energy needed to heat the copper cylinder.

Explanation:

The specific heat is defined as the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of a substance by one degree celcius.

The expression relating heat Q, mass m, specific heat c and temperature difference T is:

$Q=mcT$

Substitute the values in the above equation, we get:

$\begin{gathered} Q=76.8\text{ g}\times0.092\text{ Cal/g.C}\times67\text{ deg C} \\ \\ Q=473.40\text{ Cal} \end{gathered}$

Final answer:

473.40 calories of heat is required to heat the copper cylinder.