Specific Heat Homework Name:
Homework #4
8
th Grade PSI
Answer the following in complete sentences and/or show your mathematical work. Use the following
specific heat table if necessary.

Substance Specific Heat
(J/kg °C)
Aluminum 897
Apples 3,300
Bricks 800
Carbon 709
Copper 385
Gold 129
Iron 449
Mercury 140
Steam 1,870
Tin 230
Water 4,186
Wood 1,700

01) Define specific heat.

02) What are the three variables that determine the amount of heat lost or gained when a substance
undergoes changes in temperature?

03) Suppose you have 0.10kg of cooked apples on an aluminum pan with the same mass. Both the
apples and the aluminum pan have the same temperature. Which is most likely to burn your hand and
why?

04) Why does the sand on a beach cool down more in the evening than the ocean water?

05) Which of the following two objects will provide the most thermal energy: 2kg of wood at 70°C or
2kg of bricks at 70°C? Explain.

06) a. What is the final temperature of 25kg of steam if it absorbs 800,000J of energy. The initial
temperature of the steam was 393K.

b. Repeat the above problem for 50kg of steam. Why is this answer different from that in part a?

07) a. How much thermal energy is transferred if a 100kg container of water changes its temperature
from 25°C to 10°C.

b. How much thermal energy needs to transfer in order to cool that same container of water from
25°C to 0°C? Why is this answer different from that in part a?

08) A sample of copper and a sample of gold are heated in the same oven. Both samples are
identical in size and shape. After 10 minutes, which sample has the higher temperature? Explain.

09) Your friend wants to see who can warm up a container a water over a campfire first. Both waters
are the same starting temperature, but you have twice as much water as your friend. Why does your
friend have an advantage?

10) The temperature change of an object is:
a. proportional to the object’s specific heat.
b. proportional to the amount of energy transferred to or away from the object.
c. proportional to the object’s mass.