A 108g piece of unknown metal is heated to 100 degrees C in boiling water. The heated sample of metal is then dropped into 50ml of H20, which is initially at 23.0 degrees C. After a few minutes the temp. of water raises to 37.5 degrees C. What is the specific heat capacity of the metal and what is the identity of the metal?

Question

A 108g piece of unknown metal is heated to 100 degrees C in boiling water. The heated sample of metal is then dropped into 50ml of H20, which is initially at 23.0 degrees C. After a few minutes the temp. of water raises to 37.5 degrees C. What is the specific heat capacity of the metal and what is the identity of the metal?
Thank You in advance.

DrBob222 · Answer

heat lost by metal + heat gained by water = 0.

[mass metal x specific heat M x (Tfinal-Tinitial)] + [mass H2O x specific heat H2O x (Tfinal-Tinitial)] = 0
Substitute and solve for specific heat. Then look in your text or on-line for a list of specific heats of metals and identify the one in this problem.