Iron has a specific heat that is about four times that of gold. A cube of gold and a cube of iron, both of equal mass and at 2 0 ∘ C , are placed in two different Styrofoam cups, each filled with 100

Question

Iron has a specific heat that is about four times that of gold. A cube of gold and a cube of iron, both of equal mass and at 2 0 ∘ C , are placed in two different Styrofoam cups, each filled with 100 g of water at 4 0 ∘ C . The Styrofoam cups have negligible heat capacities. After equilibrium has been attained

TestHub · Accepted Answer

With equal metal masses, gold has the smaller heat capacity.
$T_{f} = \frac{m _{w} s _{w} ( 40 ) + m _{m} s _{m} ( 20 )}{m _{w} s _{w} + m _{m} s _{m}}$
As the metal heat capacity increases, the final temperature falls. Iron has the larger specific heat, so its final temperature is lower.
$T_{g o l d} > T_{i ro n}$

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