Question

The highest waterfall in the world is the Salto Angel in Venezuela. Its longest single falls has a height of 807 m. If water at the top of the falls is at 17.3°C, what is the maximum temperature of the water at the bottom of the falls? Assume all the kinetic energy of the water as it reaches the bottom goes into raising its temperature.

Answer 1

Answer:

Temperature at the bottom will be 19.18°C

Explanation:

We have given height h = 807 m

Temperature at the top $=17.3^{\circ}C$

Specific heat of water c = 4200 $J/kg/^{\circ}C$

From energy conservation

Kinetic energy at the bottom = potential energy at the top

So $mc\Delta T=mgh$

$\Delta T=\frac{gh}{c}=\frac{9.8\times 807}{4200}=1.88^{\circ}C$

So temperature at the bottom = 17.3+1.88 = 19.18°C