Question

What was the mass of the piece of copper?
A piece of copper metal (specific heat 0.385J/g degree C ) at 86.5degree C is placed in 50.0g of water at 16.4 degree C. The metal and water come to the same temperature of 23.9 degreeC

Answer 1

First, we need to find the amount of heat energy that the water absorbed. This will tell us (assuming that these conditions are ideal; no heat loss, etc.) how much the copper released. So, using...\[Q=cm \Delta T\]\[Q=(4.186\frac{J}{g*C})(50.0g)(23.9C-16.4C)=1569.75J\]Now, we assume that ALL energy that the water gained was gained from the copper...\[Q=cm \Delta T \rightarrow m=\frac{Q}{c \Delta T}\]\[m=\frac{-1569.75J}{(0.385\frac{J}{g*C})(16.4C-86.5C)}=58.1636623g\]And with the proper number of SFs...\[58.2g\]