Question

18.5g Al is submerged in 20.2g of water with a total temperature of 27°C. How much energy in joules is absorbed by the Al if the temperature changes to 32°C ?

Answer 1

This is similar to a limiting reagent problem. Al can absorb only as much heat as the water has to release; therefore, you must work two problems and determine if the water has enough heat to release for the Al to absorb all of it or not.
q Al = mass Al x specific heat Al x delta T. Solve for q.
or
q H2O = mass H2O x specific heat H2O x delta T.