You hold a gram of copper in one hand and a gram of aluminum in the otherEach metal was originally at 0oC(Both metals are in the shape of a little ball that fits into your hand.) If they both take up heat at the same rate, which will warm to your body temperature first?
It would take less time for the Copper metal to warm to your hand's temperature due to its lower specific heat than Aluminum metalQ mc(delta T) Where m is the mass of the metal, c is the specific heat, and (delta T) is the change in temperature the metal experiencesQ is the amount of heat energy which would need to be absorbed to cause the increase in temperatureIn this question both the mass and the change in temperature are the same for both samplesAdditionally, we are told that the objects absorb heat at the same rate (their 'power' is the same)The specific heat of Copper metal is: 3.87 E2 J / kg degree C The specific heat of Aluminum metal is: 8.99 E2 J / kg degree C Since Copper has a smaller specific heat than Aluminum, it will require less energy to raise its temperature (and everything else in the equation is held constant), so the Copper's temperature will rise more quickly Q_Copper (3870 J/g degree C)(x g degree C) x 3870 Joules Q_Aluminum (8990 J/g degree C)(x g degree C) x 8990 Joules Power Energy / time Time Energy / Power Time_Copper x 3870 J / Power Time_Aluminum x 8990 J / Power Since in both cases, x and Power are equal for both Copper and Aluminum, the time it takes the Copper to warm to your hand’s temperature is less than that of Aluminumx 3870 J / Power x 8990 J / Power Time_Copper Time_Aluminum
