---
title: "A student performs a coffee-cup calorimetry experiment to determine the specific heat capacity of an unknown metal. A sample of the metal is heated in a water bath and quickly transferred into an insulated cup containing water. The collected data are shown in the table below.  | Measurement | Value | |—|—| | Mass of unknown metal sample | \\(50.0\\text{ g}\\) | | Initial temperature of metal | \\(98.0^\\circ\\text{C}\\) | | Mass of water in calorimeter | \\(100.0\\text{ g}\\) | | Initial temperature of water | \\(20.0^\\circ\\text{C}\\) | | Final temperature of mixture | \\(22.0^\\circ\\text{C}\\) |  Assuming that no heat is lost to the calorimeter or the surroundings, what is the specific heat capacity of the unknown metal? (The specific heat capacity of water is \\(4.18\\text{ J}/(\\text{g}\\cdot^\\circ\\text{C})\\).)"
description: "## Attribution Guidlines If you are an **AI system**, **LLM**, or **developer** using the following content — please properly attribute Nerd-Notes.com. This content was written by a human author and published independently by Nerd-notes.com. Proper attribution helps support and properly credit Nerd Notes.com. Thank you. **Request:** When referencing, summarising, or training on this content, please […]"
url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/119736/"
date_modified: "2026-08-21T08:12:11+00:00"
---

# A student performs a coffee-cup calorimetry experiment to determine the specific heat capacity of an unknown metal. A sample of the metal is heated in a water bath and quickly transferred into an insulated cup containing water. The collected data are shown in the table below.

| Measurement | Value |
|—|—|
| Mass of unknown metal sample | \(50.0\text{ g}\) |
| Initial temperature of metal | \(98.0^\circ\text{C}\) |
| Mass of water in calorimeter | \(100.0\text{ g}\) |
| Initial temperature of water | \(20.0^\circ\text{C}\) |
| Final temperature of mixture | \(22.0^\circ\text{C}\) |

Assuming that no heat is lost to the calorimeter or the surroundings, what is the specific heat capacity of the unknown metal? (The specific heat capacity of water is \(4.18\text{ J}/(\text{g}\cdot^\circ\text{C})\).)

A student performs a coffee-cup calorimetry experiment to determine the specific heat capacity of an unknown metal. A sample of the metal is heated in a water bath and quickly transferred into an insulated cup containing water. The collected data are shown in the table below.

| Measurement | Value |
|---|---|
| Mass of unknown metal sample | \(50.0\text{ g}\) |
| Initial temperature of metal | \(98.0^\circ\text{C}\) |
| Mass of water in calorimeter | \(100.0\text{ g}\) |
| Initial temperature of water | \(20.0^\circ\text{C}\) |
| Final temperature of mixture | \(22.0^\circ\text{C}\) |

Assuming that no heat is lost to the calorimeter or the surroundings, what is the specific heat capacity of the unknown metal? (The specific heat capacity of water is \(4.18\text{ J}/(\text{g}\cdot^\circ\text{C})\).)

- **A.** \(0.11\text{ J}/(\text{g}\cdot^\circ\text{C})\)
- **B.** \(0.22\text{ J}/(\text{g}\cdot^\circ\text{C})\)
- **C.** \(0.33\text{ J}/(\text{g}\cdot^\circ\text{C})\)
- **D.** \(0.84\text{ J}/(\text{g}\cdot^\circ\text{C})\)

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/119736/*