Question

A student drops two metallic objects into a 120-g steel con- tainer holding 150 g of water at 25°C. One object is a 200-g cube of copper that is initially at 85°C, and the other is a chunk of aluminum that is initially at 5.0°C. To the surprise of the student, the water reaches a final temperature of 25°C, precisely where it started. What is the mass of the aluminum chunk?

Answer 1

Answer:

The mass of the aluminum chunk is 258 g

Explanation:

Given;

mass of steel container =  120-g

mass of water = 150 g

initial temperature of water, = 25°C

mass of copper cube, $M_{cu}$ = 200 g

initial temperature of the copper cube, $T_c_u$ = 85°C

initial temperature of the aluminum chunk $T_A_l$ = 5.0°C

Neglecting heat loss, heat exchanged by the two metallic objects is the same since initial temperature is equal to final temperature of water.

$M_{Al}C_{Al} \delta T_{Al} = M_{cu}C_{cu} \delta T_{cu}$

where;

$C_{AL}$ is specific heat capacity of aluminum

$\delta T_{Al}$ is change in temperature of aluminum

$C_c_u$ is the specific heat capacity of copper

$\delta T_c_u$ is the change in temperature of copper

$M_{Al}C_{Al} \delta T_{Al} = M_{cu}C_{cu} \delta T_{cu} \\\\M_{Al} = \frac{M_{cu}C_{cu} \delta T_{cu}}{C_{Al} \delta T_{Al}} \\\\M_{Al} = \frac{0.2*387*60}{900*20} = 0.258 \ kg$

Therefore, the mass of the aluminum chunk is 258 g