One kilogram of a liquid at 300 K absorbs 6 kcals of heat. If the final temperature is 350 K, what is the specific heat of the liquid in cal/g°C?
The heat capacity of a substance is defined as the amount of energy, in the form of heat, required to raise the temperature of a given quantity of the substance by one degree Celcius (or Kelvin). The specific heat can be thought of as the heat capacity of one gram of the substance and is expressed in energy per gram per degree, where energy, in turn, is usually expressed in calories, kilocalories, joules, or kilojoules. Note that with or without the definition in hand, we can use the units to figure out the answer to this question: since the question wants the answer in cal/g°C, we need to convert to the proper units, then divide calories by grams and °C. One kilogram is 1000 grams, 6 kcals is 6000 calories, and 350 K - 300 K is 50 K, which is equal to 50°C, thus the specific heat = 6000/(1000)(50), or 6/50 cal/g°C. Calculation can then be completed by long division, or by doubling the numerator and denominator to get 12/100 = 0.12, or by approximation. (6/50 is slightly more than 5/50 = 0.10.)
So that only and only imply to temperature difference between Tf and Ti. For example, 400K-330K=70K, is 70C????
