12/2/2020 Heat Energy

Heat Energy
The amount of energy that is released by substances like food is often referred
to as a calorie. There are two calories. When calorie is spelled with a small “c” it is a
regular calorie, but if it begins with a capital “C” it is a kilocalorie, or one thousand
regular calories. The equation for calculating heat energy is q=mCpΔT, where q is the
heat variable, m is the mass of the object, Cp is the specific heat constant and ΔT is the
temperature change. Values for Cp are listed for selected substances in the table below
the example problem and vary based on whether you are using calories, Calories or
joules for the energy unit. Two substances can be related by setting their q equations
equal to each other.

Consider an experiment where 10mL of water are raised from 15˚C to

40˚C, how much heat was required to make this change.

q = mCpΔT

Since the density of water is approximately 1g/mL the mass of 10mL is

10g and the temperature change was 25˚C. The specific heat of water is
4.184J/g ˚C or 1Cal/g ˚C or 1000cal/g ˚C

q = 10g(4.181J/g ˚C)25˚C = 1,046J

also

q = 10g(1Cal/g ˚C)25˚C = 250Cal or .250cal

Suppose that 10g of aluminum is heated to 300˚C and dropped into 50mL
of water that is room temperature (25˚C), how much will the temperature
of the water rise?

qAl = 10g(0.903J/g ˚C)(300˚C – Tf)

qwater = 50g(4.184J/g ˚C)(Tf – 25˚C)

In the overall process qAl must be equal to qwater

10g(0.903J/g ˚C)(300˚C – Tf) = 50g(4.184J/g ˚C)(Tf – 25˚C)

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12/2/2020 Heat Energy

To solve for Tf we find a somewhat complex sequence of algebra. First

we must multiply what can be multiplied

2709J – (9.03J/˚C)Tf = (209.2J/˚C)Tf – 5230J

Collecting like terms we get

7939J = (9.03J/˚C)Tf + (209.2J/˚C)Tf

7939J = (9.03J/˚C + 209.2J/˚C)Tf

7939J = (218.23J/˚C)Tf

Solving for Tf we find

Tf = 7939J/218.23J/˚C = 36.38˚C

Notice that the temperature of the aluminum changes much more

dramatically than the water since water has a much higher specific heat
and there is much more of it.

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