Question

Specific heat of a substance depends on its:
A) Mass
B) Volume
C) Temperature
D) Nature

Answer 1

Hint: The specific heat of a substance is defined to be the amount of heat per unit mass absorbed or rejected to change the temperature of the substance by one unit. It has a unique value for a particular material. Expressing the relation for the specific heat can help us determine the contributing factors.

Complete solution:
Based on the definition of specific heat, express the relation for finding the specific heat of a material.
The specific heat refers to the property of a substance by which the absorption or rejection of heat by a given quantity of the substance causes a change in its temperature of the substance.
The relation used for calculating the specific heat of a substance is expressed as $s = \dfrac{1}{m}\dfrac{{\Delta Q}}{{\Delta T}}$ where $m$ is the mass of the substance, $\Delta Q$ is the amount of heat absorbed or rejected and $\Delta T$ is its temperature change.
From the above relation, we see that the specific heat is proportional to the amount of heat absorbed or rejected and inversely proportional to the change in its temperature or basically, its temperature and its mass. But we also know that the specific heat is different for different materials. So we can conclude that it depends on its mass, temperature and nature.

Hence the correct options are A, C and D.

Note: The relation for finding the specific heat of a material suggests that it depends on its mass. Now if we were to add an equal amount of heat to equal masses of different substances then the resulting temperature change will not be the same. So we say that the nature of the substance does matter. Similarly, if we were to add an equal amount of heat to the same substance of different masses, then again the temperature change will not be the same. Hence the mass of the substance matters.