Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I did an experiment where I need to find the specific heat capacity of three metals. I noticed the temperature change was small, why is this?

Hi,

I noticed that you separately posted two questions on the same topic. I'll try to answer both in this post.

For a given specific heat capacity, the temperature change depends on the amount of heat transferred and the mass of the metal. If you want a bigger temperature change you'd need to increase the heat and/or decrease the mass.

In general thermal equilibrium will be faster if the change in temperature is small. Also, different materials conduct heat at different rates. Thermal conductivity is the property associated with the rate of heat transfer in a material.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman