Specific Heat?! Please help!!!!

Nursing Students Student Assist

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Hey guys!

I am TOTALLY frustrated because I do NOT get how to do specific heat problems!!! My teacher pretty much mentioned it in passing and now expects us to know how do it! I have been checking websites, reading in my study guide..you name it and I still don't get it!!! Can someone please explain this to me? Also, one of my homework problems asks about finding the mass with specific heat and I am lost there too!!! :cry: Please tell me there is a chem whiz in here that will have mercy on me and explain this concept and show me what I'm supposed to do!!!! :bowingpur

Copper has a specific heat of 0.092 cal/(g x degrees c). When 52.7 cal of heat is added to a piece of copper, the temperature increases from 22.4 degrees c to 38.6 degrees c. What is the mass of the piece of copper?

Any help is MUCH appreciated!!!! :heartbeat

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SH = HEAT/m x (T2 -T1)

This is the formula. Hope this helps.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
SH = HEAT/m x (T2 -T1)

This is the formula. Hope this helps.

It does! Thank you! But what if you don't know the mass such as in the question I posted? How do I find the mass?

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You know everything but the mass in that formula, so it's just basic algebra and it's solved. Solve for M.

Another way to do the formula is to rearrange it so that

heat = (SH)(grams or mass)(change in temp)

Plug in what you know, and solve for "mass"

Hope that helps!

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