It takes 770 joules energy to raise the temperature of 50.0 g of mercury by 110°C. What is the specific heat of mercury?

1 Answer
Apr 11, 2016

The specific heat capacity of mercury is "0.140 J·°C"^"-1""g"^"-1".

Explanation:

The formula for the heat absorbed by a substance is

color(blue)(|bar(ul(color(white)(a/a) q = mcΔT color(white)(a/a)|)))" "

where

q is the quantity of heat

m is the mass of the substance

c is the specific heat capacity of the material

ΔT is the temperature change

You can rearrange the formula to calculate the specific heat capacity:

c = q/(mΔT)

c = "770 J"/"50.0 g × 110 °C" = "0.140 J·°C"^"-1""g"^"-1"