Question

Specific Heat Capacity Calculation. I need help!

Answer 1

You need to use conservation of energy.
Heat lost by the copper = heat gained by the aluminum
for each heat term you can use...q = mCdeltaT

Answer 2

that is the same equation

Answer 3

ok

Answer 4

You know ht emass of copper and aluminum...agreed?

Answer 5

change it to grams....look at the units on the Cp for Copper...that tells you mass must be in grams

Answer 6

hang on...

Answer 7

ok how do you calculate deltaT?

Answer 8

now you know:
- heat lost by the copper = heat gained by aluminum
so
- m(Copper)Cp(Copper) deltaT(copper ) = m(al) Cp(al) deltaT (aluminum)

Answer 9

You know everything except Cp(alumimum)
note that delta T (Copper) is not equal to delta T (aluminum)
Calculate deltaT for copper ...it should be a negative number

Answer 10

Great....now plug the values in with their correct units and you should be able to solve for Cp(aluminum)
Note: their needs to be a negative sign in front of the heat lost by the copper
That is by the conservation of energy:
q gained + q lost = 0
Therefore:
- q lost = q gained

Answer 11

ok

Answer 12

looks good but add a negative sign to the copper side per my explanation above

Answer 13

That will make sure Cp (aluminum ) is positive...which it must be

Answer 14

You forgot to write in all your units and cancel units where appropriate...see if you can figure out the correct units for Cp (al)

Answer 15

The numerical value looks ok...just work out the units.

Answer 16

Yes, so when you multiply that side through you get Joules.
But then you divide it by the mass(Al)*deltaT (aluminum)

So you have:
Joules/(units of mass)(units of temperature)

Answer 17

Yes....terrific work!

Answer 18

Alright, thank you so much for all of your help! You were very helpful!

Answer 19

your welcome...goodnight!