Question

The Temperature of a 200 G sample of an unknown substance changed from 40 degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius . In the process, the substance released 569 cal of energy. what is the specific heat capacity of the substance? ​

Answer 1

A number of specific heat practice problems with solutions are provided for high school students. In each problem, the definition and formula of specific heat are discussed.

Specific heat capacity is defined as the amount of heat energy, Q, required to raise the temperature of a unit mass (one kilogram or one gram) of a substance by one degree Celsius or one degree Kelvin.

If mm kilogram of a matter absorbs QQ joules heat energy from a heat source and its temperature changes by \Delta T=T_{final}-T_{initial}ΔT=T

final

−T

initial

then its specific heat capacity is found by the following formula

c=\frac{Q}{m\Delta T}

c=

mΔT

Q

This equation is only used when there is a temperature change in substance.

Problems with phase change are excluded from using this equation.

With this remainder, now we can solve some specific heat problems for further understanding of its definition.