Four samples of steel, lead, alcohol, and glass all have the same mass and are all initially at 20$\degree$C. After 100 calories of heat are added to each sample, the final temperatures are 38.2$\degree$C for the steel, 85.6$\degree$C for the lead, 23.4$\degree$C for the alcohol, and 30$\degree$C for the glass. Which of these four materials has the largest specific heat capacity?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The specific heat capacity is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree Celsius. Since all samples had the same mass and absorbed the same amount of heat, the substance with the lowest final temperature must have the highest specific heat capacity, as it required the most heat to raise its temperature by the same amount. In this case, the alcohol had the lowest final temperature of 23.4°C, indicating that it has the highest specific heat capacity.

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