Question

A 55.0 g piece of copper wire is heated, and the temperature of the wire changes from 19.0 C to 86.0 C. The amount of heat absorbed is 343 cal. What is the specific heat of copper? Show your work.

Answer 1

To find the specific heat of copper, solve for C, in the equation:
\(\sf \color{red}{q=mC \Delta T}\)

q = heat
m = mass
C = heat capacity
\(\Delta\)T = change in heat, meaning T\(_2\)-T\(_1\)
This is a physical property, which means you should probably use absolute temperature (convert Celcius to kelvin)

Answer 2

because it's a \(change\) in temperature, and a difference of 1C and 1 K are equal in size, you can use either.