Question

Which one of the following substances has the highest specific heat capacity at room temperature and atmospheric pressure?
A. Water
B. Ice
C. Aluminum
D. Mercury

Answer 1

Hint: Before attempting this question, one must have prior knowledge of specific heat capacity which explains the amount of heat required which can increase the temperature by 1 kelvin of the given substance, use the given information to approach the solution.

Complete answer:
According to the given information we have substance water, Ice, aluminum and mercury
To identify from all substances given in the options have the highest specific heat capacity at room temperature and atmospheric pressure let’s first find the heat capacity of each given substance and then compare it.
Before comparing the specific heat capacity of the given substances let’s discuss what specific heat capacity defines
The concept of specific heat capacity which can be explained as the amount energy in form of heat which is required to increase the temperature of the given substance by 1 unit
For water which is liquid in nature at room temperature and atmospheric have specific heat capacity of approximately 4.2 $J/{g^ \circ }C$ or 4186\[Jk{g^{ - 1}}{K^{ - 1}}\]
For Ice it is solid in nature and in at room temperature and atmospheric pressure it have specific heat capacity of 2060\[Jk{g^{ - 1}}{K^{ - 1}}\]
For aluminum which is solid in nature have specific heat capacity of 900\[Jk{g^{ - 1}}{K^{ - 1}}\] at room temperature and atmospheric pressure
In mercury is liquid in nature which at room temperature and atmospheric pressure shows specific heat capacity of 140\[Jk{g^{ - 1}}{K^{ - 1}}\]
After comparing the specific heat capacity of all given substance we can say that water have highest specific heat capacity

So, the correct answer is “Option A”.

Note:
In the above solution water was the substance with highest specific heat capacity the reason for water to have highest specific heat capacity is because water have hydrogen bond present due to which when we provide the heat to water to increase the temperature by 1 unit to increase the temperature the molecules of water should vibrate but because of presence of so many hydrogen bonds between the molecules it requires large amount of heat energy to break the bond and force molecules to vibrate this is the reason the water but in case of ice because of its rigid structure when it is heated it melts into liquid.