What's the Correct Temperature of the Bolt Before Placing in Water?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a thermal equilibrium scenario where an aluminum bolt is heated and then placed into water within a copper calorimeter. The goal is to determine the initial temperature of the bolt before it was submerged in the water.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the application of a heat transfer formula, questioning its completeness given the presence of three masses. There are requests for clarification on the formula's origin and the meaning of its variables, as well as a call for more detailed calculations.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring the setup and assumptions of the problem. Some guidance has been offered regarding the need to account for all masses involved in the heat exchange, but no consensus has been reached on the correct approach or solution.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating the complexities of heat transfer in a system with multiple components, and there is a noted confusion regarding the application of the formula used by the original poster.

Mr.Helms
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An aluminum bolt has a mass of 21.3 g. It is heated then placed into 839 g of water in a copper calorimeter cup with a mass of 137 g. The initial temperature of the water and the copper cup is 16 oC. The bolt, water and cup arive at an equilibrium temperature of 18.4 oC. What was the temperature in degrees celsius of the bolt before it was placed in the water?

I used this formula and got wrong answer, need help.

Tf = (m1C1T1 + m2C2T2) / (m1C1 + m2C2)

And got 541.3 Degrees C. What is wrong.?
 
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The first thing that pops out to me is that you have three masses exchanging heat, but your equation only accounts for two of them...
 
Where does this formula come from? and what do the variables mean?
Can you show more work? What did you plugged in for the various variables?
 
Why is this in the advanced forum?
 

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