Using Specific Heat
Pam has two pieces of metal. Both are silvery solids. For each metal Pam determined its volume and
mass. Then she heated each metal to 100.0 °C, placed it in 10.0 ml of water at 21.0°C, and measured the
final temperature of the water and metal system. Pam recorded her data in the table below.
Volume Mass of
Volume
Initial Temp.
Initial Temp. Final Temp.
of metal
metal
of water
of the metal
of the water
of metal &
3
3
(cm )
(g)
(cm )
(°C)
(°C)
water (°C)
Metal A
1.50
3.99
10.0
100.0
21.0
27.3
Metal B
1.50
10.92
10.0
100.0
21.0
25.3
Using her data and the information in the following table, what are Pam’s metals?
Show all work and formulas used to solve.
Metal/Substance
Cp (J/g°C)
Density
Description
Aluminum
Barium
Bismuth
Brass
Bronze
Colbalt
Copper
Gold
Iron
Lead
Manganese
Mercury
Nickel
Potassium
Silver
Water
Steam
Ice
Tin
Tungsten
Zinc
Ammonia
Ethanol
Carbon(graphite)
Air (room temp)
0.900
0.285
0.122
.377
.438
0.442
0.386
0.129
0.448
0.129
0.481
0.140
0.444
0.724
0.234
4.184
2.080
2.050
0.222
.134
0.388
4.700
2.440
0.709
1.012
2.7
3.5
9.75
8.73
8.78
8.9
8.96
19.3
7.87
7.3
7.3
13.6
8.9
0.862
10.4
1.00
0.0005976
0.917
7.31
19.6
7.13
0.730
0.789
2.267
0.001293
Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Brownish- Red
Yellowish-Red
Bluish Silvery solid
Reddish solid
Dark Yellow Solid
Silvery Solid
Dull Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Colorless liquid
Colorless gas
Colorless solid
Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Silvery Solid
Colorless liquid
Colorless liquid
Black soft solid
Colorless gas
Measuring Thermal Energy PAM’s Metal problem
Qmetal lost = Qwater gain
(mmetal)(Cpmetal)(ΔTmetal) = (mwater)(Cpwater)(ΔTwater)
To find the metal’s identity you have to solve for
the specific heat (Cpmetal) of the metal.
(Cpmetal) = (mwater) (Cpwater) (ΔTwater)
(mmetal) (ΔTmetal)
Metal A
(Cpmetal) = (10.0g) (4.184 J/g°C) (6.3°C)
(3.99 g) (72.7°C)
(Cpmetal) = 0.909 J/g°C
How about the Density
(Densitymetal) = Mmetal/Vmetal = 3.99 g/ 1.50cm3
(Densitymetal) = 2.66 g/cm3
Metal A  Aluminum