A calorimeter is made out of aluminum and it has a mass of 200g. It contains 600

Question

A calorimeter is made out of aluminum and it has a mass of 200g. It contains 600g of water at a temperature of 25C. Alice gives Bob an undefined matter that has a mass of 300g. To determine the specific heat of the sample Bob heats the sample to a temperature of 320C before inserting it into the calorimeter. After the the undefined matter and the calorimeter reach thermal equilibrium Bob measures the temperature to be 60C. What is the specific heat of the unknown sample if the specific heat of aluminum c = 900J=kgC?

Explanation / Answer

Priciple of calorimetry

Heat lost by unknown substance = heat gained by calorimeter and contents.

Equilibrium temperature = T = 60 oC

specific heat of unknown substance = S

300 x S x (320 - 60) = 200 x 900 x (60 - 25) + 600 x 4186 x (60 - 25)

S = 1208 J/Kg.oC

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