Physics 103 Module 3 (Ch.6)

Chapter 6

56. When a 1-kg metal pan containing 1 kg of cold water is removed from the refrigerator onto a table, which absorbs more heat from the room: the pan or the water?

Since the specific heat of the water (liquid or even frozen) is much bigger than the specific heat of about any common metal than the water will absorb more heat than the pan.

58. Which has the higher specific heat capacity: an object that cools quickly or an object of the same mass that cools more slowly?

The specific heat (or caloric capacity) is BY DEFINITION the quantity heat ONE KG of a certain substance can absorb or can give away when cooled or heated by ONE DEGREE of temperature. 

This means that for the same the mass the specific heat is smaller for the object having a bigger temperature difference (or in other words that cools quickly).

60. Why does adding the same amount of heat to two different objects not necessarily produce the same increase in temperature?

This happens because different objects have different specific heats (caloric capacities) Even if the objects have the same mass, objects are made off different substances and this implies they have different specific heats. The same amount of heat added will give different temperature differences on different objects.

78. Why does the presence of large bodies of water tend to moderate the climate of nearby land—making it warmer in cold weather and cooler in hot weather?

Water is a substance that has a very, very large specific heat compared to about all other substances (and especially with air). To cool down (or to heat up) a large quantity of water requires a large heat to be released (or absorbed)  by it, and this moderates the climate of the nearby land.