Question

The specific heat of gold is 0.031 calories/gram°C and the specific heat of silver is 0.057 calories/gram°C. If equal amounts of each metal are exposed to equal heating, which will heat up faster?
The silver will heat up almost twice as fast.
The gold will heat up almost twice as fast.
They will heat up at the same rate.
It is impossible to tell.

Answer 1

The gold will heat up almost twice as fast. The specific heat of a metal tells us just how much calories is needed to change the temperature of a metal by 1 degree celsius. Given this, the smaller the specific heat of a metal, the faster it will heat up.