Question

Mario and Patience are making cookies. They are ready to drop balls of dough on baking sheets. They have baking sheets made of treated glass, aluminum, stainless steel, and copper. The specific heats of these substances are:

Treated glass = 0.75 J/g • °C

Aluminum = 0.90 J/g • °C

Stainless steel = 0.50 J/g • °C

Copper = 0.39 J/g • °C

Based on the specific heat values, which sheet is going to warm up the quickest, and, therefore, bake the cookies the fastest?

Answer 1

Copper — it has the lowest specific heat (0.39 J/g·°C), so it takes the least energy to raise its temperature and will warm up fastest (stainless steel is next).