Worksheet on Thermal Capacity

1. 1500J of energy is supplied to a metal bar of mass 350g. The temperature increases
by100C. What is the specific heat capacity of the metal?

2. 15kJ of energy is supplied to 500g of water. What is the increase in temperature if the
specific heat capacity of water is 4200J/kg0C.

3. How much energy is required to raise the temperature of 3.5kg of steel, of specific heat
capacity 450J/kg0C by 2300C?

4. 2400J of energy is delivered to a metal of mass 0.4kg, raising its temperature by 15 0C.
Find the specific heat capacity of the metal.
5. How much energy is required to raise the temperature of 500g of water by 10 0C if the
specific heat capacity of water is 4200J/kg0C.

6. 2kJ of energy is delivered to a metal block of mass 200g. What is the temperature rise of
the block if the specific heat capacity of the metal is 350J/kg 0C.

7. A student set up apparatus in order to find by experiment the specific heat capacity of
water.

a. He obtains the following results:

Starting temperature = 200C End temperature = 420C

Power supplied by the heater = 50W Heating time = 16 minutes

Mass of water = 0.50kg

Use this data to calculate a value for the specific heat capacity of water.
b. The actual value for the specific heat capacity of water is 4200J/kg 0C. Explain why the
student’s value is not equal to this.

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c. A 15kW heater is used to heat a swimming pool. The pool has dimensions of 5m wide,
15m long and a uniform depth of 2.5m. How long will it take to heat the pool from 20 0C to
250C? State any assumption you have made in your calculation. (Specific heat capacity of
water = 4200J/kg0C, density of water = 1000kg/m3).