Question

If a piece of granite weighing 250.0 grams is heated in boiling water to a temperature of 100 C and then placed in a calorimeter containing 400.00 grams of water, the temperature of the water increases from 20.0 C to 28.5 C. what is the specific heat of Granite?

Answer 1

The sum of the heats gained is zero (one loses heat).

heatgainedgrannite+heatgainedwater=0

250*Cgran*( 28.5-100)+400*cwater*(28.5-20)=0
solve for specific heat of granite.

Answer 2

heat lost by granite + heat gained by H2O = 0

[mass granite x specific heat granit x (Tfinal-Tinitial)] + [mass H2O x specific heat H2O x (Tfinal-Tinitial)] = 0
Substitute and solve for specific heat granite, the only unknown.