a) Soil showed the greater change in temperature.
b) Soil: 0.0056 °C/g
Water: 0.004 °C/g
Water: 0.004 °C/g
c) The soil heated up faster. Water has the higher specific heat because it requires more heat to change one gram of the substance by one degree Celsius.
d) Water has a higher specific heat than soil, so it would take longer to cool down.
2. 2.
a) The lines on the graph show us that soil heated up faster than the water.
b) We could find a line of best fit on the graph and stop at room temperature, where the graph would plateau because the materials cannot surpass the temperature of the surroundings. At 15 minutes, the water would be 16.0°C, and the soil would be 17.5°C.
c) After 20 minutes, according to the line of best fit, the water should be 16.3°C and the soil should be 18.4°C. It is not very accurate because the line would probably plateau as it reaches temperatures approaching room temperature.
d) The specific heat of a substance remains constant, so the same statistics are used from question 1-b: Soil: 0.0056 °C/g
Water: 0.004 °C/g
Water: 0.004 °C/g
3. 3.
a) Landmasses would heat up faster than bodies of water at the same altitude because water has a greater specific heat, which we discovered earlier in this investigation.
b) The surrounding air would move in towards where the warmer air was, creating a convection current.
c) The air on top of the ocean is cold due to water’s specific heat and because it reflects much of the light given off from the sun, and the air on land is warmer. The warmer air rises creating a low-pressure zone, in which the cool ocean air replaces. This is why there are cooling breezes on a sunny day on a coastal beach. Here is a webpage to explain an example of a large-scale atmospheric change, in this case, the Asian Monsoon:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/monsoon.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/monsoon.shtml
4. 4.
a) The yearly temperature ranges of the interior regions of the United States are much greater because land has a lower specific heat, making it easier to heat up and cool down. The cool coastal air cools down the coastal regions, as well as the water saturated coastal soil.
b) The average winter temperatures are similar because the coastal climate keep both places relatively the same temperature wise. However, in Fairbanks, there is no ocean to keep warm.
c) The average winter temperature is 10 ºC in London, England and 5.8 ºC in Moscow, Russia. This difference of temperatures is explained by the same factors as in 4b; the coastal temperatures in London keep it warm, where as Moscow is inland and the low specific heat of the land cools it down.
5.
a. Heat=(mass of absorber substance)(change in temp.)(specific heat)
Heat=(227.5 g)(0.004 °C/g)(4.18 J/g °C)
Heat=3.8038 °C
b. Heat gain by water=heat gain by soil Let “x” be specific heat
(227.5 g)(0.004 °C/g)(4.18 J/g °C)=(306.4 g)(0.0056 °C/g)x
(3.8038 °C)/(1.71584 °C)=x
2.216873368 J/g °C=x
Therefore, the specific heat of soil is 2.216873368 J/g °C)
c. The specific heat of our soil sample is less than the specific heat of the water sample. This relates to our answers in question 4 because it justifies that that the specific heat of soil, and the amount of Joules needed for each degree change of a substance, is less than that of water. Coastal regions such as London will not be cooled down as easily as inland regions, and so it has a higher average temperature.
