Name Specific Heat

Heating Substances in the Sun

The following table shows the temperature after 10.0 g of 4 different substances have been in direct sunlight for
up to 60 minutes.
Time (minutes) Air (oC) Water (oC) Sand (oC) Metal (oC)
0 (initial) 25 25 25 25
15.0 28.9 26.2 30 35
30.0 32.5 27.5 35 45
45.0 36.2 28.8 40 55
60.0 40 30 45 65

Step 1: Create a line graph for each substance on the graph below. Use a different color (or different
symbol) for each substance. Make a legend
Temperature vs. Heating Time
Step 2: Answer Questions
1. Order the substances
based on the time required
to heat them from:
70 Slowest

Temperature (oC)
60

50
Fastest

40
2. Which do you think will
cool the slowest? Explain.

30

20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (minutes)

3. When you boil water in a pot on the stove, which heats slower, the metal or the water? Explain.

4. Why do you think different substances heat up and cool down at different rates?

Specific heat = the amount of heat (E) needed to raise the temperature of 1 g of a substance by 1 degree.
5. Based on the definition above, which of the 4 substances do you think has:
a) the highest specific heat?

b) the lowest specific heat?

6. Here are the specific heats of the four substances: 4.18 J/g∙oC, 1.00 J/g∙oC, 0.80 J/g∙oC, and 0.60 J/g∙oC.
Match and then label each substance with its specific heat capacity on the graph.

7. If something has a high specific heat will it take a lot of heat or a little heat to change its temperature? Explain. (Use the
definition, your graph, and the data from #6)
 Solve. Express all answers in Joules. Use the table in the book of c.

1. 5.0 g of copper was heated from 20°C to 80°C. How much energy was used to
heat Cu?

2. How much heat is absorbed by 20g granite boulder as energy from the sun
causes its temperature to change from 10°C to 29°C?

3. How much heat is released when 30 g of water at 96°C cools to 25°C?

4. If a 3.1g ring is heated using 10.0 calories (careful!), its temperature rises 17.9°C.
Calculate the specific heat capacity of the ring.

5. The temperature of a sample of water increases from 20°C to 46.6°C as it

absorbs 5650 calories of heat. What is the mass of the sample?

6. The temperature of a sample of iron with a mass of 10.0 g changed from 50.4°C
to 25.0°C with the release of 183 J of heat. What is the specific heat of iron?

7. A 4.50 g coin of copper absorbed 246 Joules of heat. What was the final
temperature of the copper if the initial temperature was 25°C.

8. A 155 g sample of an unknown substance was heated from 25°C to 40°C. In the
process, the substance absorbed 3000 J of energy. What is the specific heat of
the substance?

9. What is the specific heat of an unknown substance if a 2.50 g sample releases

60.5 Joules as its temperature changes from 25°C to 20°C?