A chunk of unknown metal weighing half a kilogram has been boiling in water for several minutes. It is then quickley dropped into an insulated Styrofoam beaker containing 1 kg of water at 20.0◦C. After waiting and gently stirring for 5.00 minutes, you observe the water’s temperature has reached a constant value of 22.0◦C. The specific heat of water is 4186 J/(mol· K). A. Assuming that the Styrofoam absorbs a negligibly small amount of heat and that no heat was lost to the surroundings, what is the specific heat of the metal?
B. Which is more useful for storing thermal energy: this metal or an equal weight of water? Explain.
C. If the heat absorbed by the Styrofoam actually is not negligible, how would the specific heat you calculated in part (a) be in error? Would it be too large, too small, or still correct? Explain.