Question

Which of the following has the highest specific heat:
A) Water.
B) Mercury.
C) Kerosene.
D) Copper.

Answer 1

Hint: The specific heat is defined as the heat required to raise the temperature of unit mass by $1^\circ $. The more the specific heat the more heat is required to raise the temperature of the substance or liquid. The unit of the specific heat can be converted according to the need.

Complete solution:
It is asked in the problem which of the following options has maximum specific heat. The specific heat of the water is equal to $4.18\dfrac{{kJ}}{{kg^\circ C}}$, the specific heat of mercury is equal to $0.14\dfrac{{kJ}}{{kg^\circ C}}$, the specific heat of kerosene is equal to $2.01\dfrac{{kJ}}{{kg^\circ C}}$, the specific heat of copper is equal to $0.390\dfrac{{kJ}}{{kg^\circ C}}$. So by comparing the values of the specific heat we can see that the maximum specific heat is of water.

The correct option for this problem is option A.

Additional information: The heat generated on any substance is equal to the product of mass, specific heat of the substance and change in temperature. The change in temperature of the substance or liquid can be positive or negative which means that the temperature may increase or decrease. The specific heat is expressed as C, the thermal capacity is the product of density of the substance and specific heat of the substance, the thermal capacity tells us about the amount of energy can be stored by the substance.

Note: The students are advised to remember the specific heat values for some standard liquids and substances. The specific heat can be represented in the units $\dfrac{{kJ}}{{kg^\circ C}}$,$\dfrac{J}{{kg^\circ C}}$,$\dfrac{J}{{kgK}}$ and also specific heat can be represented as $\dfrac{{cal}}{{kg^\circ C}}$.