Question

A hot 1000 g chunk of copper is allowed to cool to 100°C. If the copper gave off

231 kJ of energy, what was the initial temperature of the copper? The specific

heat of copper is 0.385 J/gºC. *

Answer 1

The initial temperature of the copper was 700 °C. This was determined by using the conservation of energy formula for heat and plugging in the values given in the question.

Step-by-step explanation:

The principle that is used to solve this problem is the law of conservation of energy, in particular the energy associated with heat which is given by the formula q = m * c * ΔT where 'q' is the energy in joules, 'm' is the mass, 'c' is the specific heat capacity, and 'ΔT' is the change in temperature. Since we are solving for the initial temperature, we want to isolate 'ΔT' in the equation to find ΔT = q / (m * c)

Plugging in the values given by the question, we get ΔT = 231,000 J / (1000 g * 0.385 J/g°C) =~ 600°C. This figure represents the amount the copper cooled, so to find the starting temperature we add this to the final temperature. Therefore, 100 °C + 600 °C = 700 °C.

The initial temperature of the copper was 700 °C.

Learn more about specific heat capacity