A piece of metal with a mass of 32.8 g is heated to 100.5°C and dropped into 138.2 g of water at 20.0°C. The final temperature of the system is 30.2°C. What is the specific heat capacity of the metal?

Specific heat capacity of metal is 2.6 J/g°C.

Explanation:

Heat lost by metal = Heat gained by water

ΔT = ΔT

where: is the mass of metal, is the specific heat capacity of metal, ΔT  is the change in temperature of metal and is the mass of water, is the specific capacity of water and ΔT is the change in temperature of water.

32.8 x   x (100.5 - 30.2) = 138.2 x 4.2 x (30.2 - 20.0)

32.8 x x 70.3 = 138.2 x 4.2 x 10.2

x 2305.84 = 5920.488

=

    = 2.56761

= 2.6 J/g°C

The specific heat capacity of the metal is 2.6 J/g°C.