Question

How would you rank these substances from highest to lowest using specific heat values: silver, water, sodium, wood, copper and glass?

Answer 1

According to modern thermodynamics, heat is defined as the measure of total internal energy of the system. Two properties were defined, in order to quantify heat energy associated with matter. These properties are specific heat capacity of the system and heat capacity of the system.

Complete step-by-step answer:
As we have discussed that heat energy is the measure of total internal energy of the system. It consists of total potential energy of the molecules and total kinetic energy of the system. As we increase the temperature, the internal energy also increases.
Heat capacity is defined as the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature by one degree Celsius. It depends upon the size and the quantity. Therefore, it is said to be an extensive property.
Now let us discuss about the specific heat-
It is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature one gram of that substance by one degree Celsius.
We can write the formula mathematically,
$Q=mc\Delta T$
$c=\dfrac{Q}{m\Delta T}$
Where, $Q$ is the amount of heat energy
$m$ is the mass of the substance
$c$ is the specific heat
$\Delta T$ is change in temperature
The specific heat value of silver is $0.23kJk{{g}^{-1}}{{K}^{-1}}$
The specific heat value of water is $4.21kJk{{g}^{-1}}{{K}^{-1}}$
The specific heat value of sodium is $1.21kJk{{g}^{-1}}{{K}^{-1}}$
The specific heat value of wood is $2.0kJk{{g}^{-1}}{{K}^{-1}}$
The specific heat value of copper is $0.39kJk{{g}^{-1}}{{K}^{-1}}$
The specific heat value of glass is $0.84kJk{{g}^{-1}}{{K}^{-1}}$
So according to above values of the specific heat, we will arrange the substances from highest to lowest specific heat values-
Water> wood> sodium>glass>copper>silver

Note: You should note that specific heat term is used when we are talking about a certain amount of mass. Heat capacity only depends upon the quantities like temperature, volume and pressure. Specific heat is calculated in $kJk{{g}^{-1}}{{K}^{-1}}$ . Specific heat formula gives a relation between specific heat, mass, heat energy and temperature.