Given 16.2 grams of substance Y, if the substance absorbs 2722 joules of energy and the specific heat of the substance is 9.22 J/g∙°C, what is the final temperature of the substance if the initial was 26 degrees Celsius?

Question

matt101 · Answer

You can solve this problem using the equation for specific heat:

$$q=mc \Delta T$$
Where q is the total heat added, m is the mass of the sample, c is the specific heat of the substance being studied (the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of the substance by 1 degree Celsius/Kelvin), and ΔT is the change in temperature (final temperature minus initial temperature).

You just need to plug in the values provided in the question and solve for the unknown, which in this case is the final temperature:

$$2722=(16.2)(9.22)(T_f-26)$$$$T_f=44.2$$
The final temperature of the sample is about 44.2 °C.