Specific heat refers to the amount of heat energy required t - GED Practice Questions
Question
Specific heat refers to the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1g of a substance by 1k. A substance that has a high specific heat implies that it will heat and cool slowly. The specific heat capacity of water is 4.183 J/g. oC and that of sand is 0.8 J/g. oC. These values imply that an organism living in sandy coastal region will experience severe dramatic environmental temperature changes compared to those that thrive in water.
If equal masses of sand and water in a given area experience a 12% increase in heat energy, which prediction can be made about organisms in the area?
Answers
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Explanation
To arrive at the answer, it is imperative to calculate the heat capacity of the sand and the water
Recall that Q= MC Δ T (m=mass, c=heat capacity, and Δ T= temperature change
Assuming the masses of the two are equal then;
Q water= 4.183 X 12 = 50.196J
Q for sand=0.8 x 12 = 9.6
Therefore, 50.196/9.6 = 5.2
This implies that a temperature rise of 120 will make the organisms in the sand to experience 5.2 times more heat compared to those living in water.
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