A student heats 100 g of aluminum to 60°C. He places it in 100 g of water at 20°C. Over time, what will most likely happen?

Question

Physics

Kaylynn Patel

31 December, 10:59

A student heats 100 g of aluminum to 60°C. He places it in 100 g of water at 20°C. Over time, what will most likely happen?

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Answers (2)

Know the Answer?

Clarissa Ramsey · Answer 1

A. The water's temperature will increase slightly, and the metal's temperature will decrease a lot.

Karlie Marks · Answer 2

- - Heat will flow out of the warm aluminum and into the cool water.

- - The temperature of the aluminum will fall and the temperature of the water will rise.

- - Eventually, everything in the container will settle at the same temperature, and temperatures will stop changing.

- - The final "equilibrium" temperature will be a little less than 40°C (the average of 60° and 20°), because the specific heat of the aluminum is about 8% less than the specific heat of the water. So when some quantity of heat flows from the aluminum to the water, the temperature of the water rises a little less than the temperature of the aluminum falls.