Question

Water has a specific heat of 4.184 J/gºC

Aluminum has a specific heat of 0.897 J/gºC

if you added the same amount of heat to both aluminum and water which of the following is true?

Question 9 options:

the water will achieve a higher temperature


the aluminum will achieve a higher temperature


they both will achieve the same temperature


impossible to answer with data given

Answer 1

I think the temperature of each will depend on the mass of the water and aluminum. Since we aren't told any info about the mass, we can't determine what the relative temperatures will be.

Answer 2

with exactly the information you're given, it's impossible to tell which will have the higher temp. It's possible that varying the mass of water and aluminum you have, you could achieve all 3 answers, but there's not enough info to say which

Answer 3

If you vary their masses, then you certainly don't have enough info. But if you assume that they're masses are equal, for water and aluminium, Al will reach a higher temp.

Answer 4

True, @aaronq !