alleryStart learning →The specific heat of a substance is usually treated as constant across a chapter's temperature range because the variation is:
AToo large to measure
BDifferent for each gram
CSmall enough to ignore
DExactly zero always
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Small enough to ignore
1. Specific heat does in fact change a little with temperature.
2. That variation is usually small enough that specific heat is treated as constant over the range of temperatures considered.
3. The approximation keeps the arithmetic to a single multiplication.
4. It would break down over a very wide temperature range or across a phase change.
5. Saying the variation is exactly zero would be a stronger and false claim.
_Source: OpenStax Chemistry 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 5 'Thermochemistry', sections 5.1-5.3_
Keep practising Thermochemistry
Browse all Thermochemistry questions for AP Chemistry, or explore more Chemistry topics.
Related questions
Do the calorimetry arithmeticMatch each term to its meaningTrue or false: heat and energyWhich specific heat is higher?Extensive or intensive?The energy needed to raise the temperature of water depends on atmospheric pressure and onA flask of water heated from 21 degrees Celsius to 85 degrees Celsius has absorbed heat, sHeating 800 grams of water by one degree Celsius requires how many times the energy needed