An engineer wants to determine the specific heat capacity of a newly developed titanium alloy.
The experimental setup is shown below. A sample of the alloy is heated in an oven, then quickly transferred to an insulated calorimeter containing a liquid coolant.
The sample of the alloy is left in the oven until it reaches a stable, uniform temperature of 180∘C180^{\circ}\text{C}180∘C.
The engineer quickly transfers the hot alloy sample into the calorimeter, which initially contains liquid coolant at 15∘C15^{\circ}\text{C}15∘C.
The engineer assumes that the thermal energy gained by the liquid coolant is equal to the thermal energy lost by the alloy sample.
The liquid coolant and the alloy sample both reach a final maximum equilibrium temperature of 36∘C36^{\circ}\text{C}36∘C.
The liquid coolant gains 9450 J of thermal energy.
The mass of the alloy sample is 0.125 kg.
Calculate a value for the specific heat capacity of the titanium alloy, using these results.
Use the equation:
change in thermal energy=mass×specific heat capacity×change in temperature \text{change in thermal energy} = \text{mass} \times \text{specific heat capacity} \times \text{change in temperature} change in thermal energy=mass×specific heat capacity×change in temperature ΔQ=m×c×Δθ \Delta Q = m \times c \times \Delta\theta ΔQ=m×c×ΔθHeating, specific heat and latent heat Questions
Practise Edexcel GCSE Physics Heating, specific heat and latent heat with exam-style questions for Foundation and Higher tier. 81 questions, matched to the Edexcel GCSE Physics (1PH0) specification and written in Paper 1 and Paper 2 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.