To determine which substance is most likely to heat up the fastest, we need to look at the specific heat capacities of the substances. Specific heat capacity is a measure of how much energy is required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1 degree Celsius.
A lower specific heat capacity means that the substance requires less energy to increase its temperature, and thus it will heat up faster compared to substances with higher specific heat capacities.
Let’s review the specific heat capacities of the given substances:
- Water: [tex]\(4.19 \, \text{J/(g·°C)}\)[/tex]
- Copper: [tex]\(0.39 \, \text{J/(g·°C)}\)[/tex]
- Aluminum: [tex]\(0.90 \, \text{J/(g·°C)}\)[/tex]
- Dry air: [tex]\(1.01 \, \text{J/(g·°C)}\)[/tex]
Among these values, copper has the lowest specific heat capacity of [tex]\(0.39 \, \text{J/(g·°C)}\)[/tex]. This means that copper requires the least amount of energy to raise its temperature by 1 degree Celsius compared to water, aluminum, and dry air.
Therefore, the substance most likely to heat up the fastest is copper.
