a 225.0 g sample of an unknown, silver, pure metal was heated to 95.5 degrees celsius then put into 150.50 g of water at 22.5 degrees celsius. the water was heated by the hot metal to a temperature of 31.4 degrees celsius. what is the specific heat? what is the metal?

Answer 1

metal loss of heat + water gain of heat = 0

[(mass metal x specific heat metal x (Tfinal-Tinitial)] + [mass H2O x specific heat H2O x (Tfinal-Tinitial)] = 0
Substitute the numbers and solve for specific heat metal. Then look up in a specific heat table to identify the metal.