Calorie to Heat Conversion: Cheese Food Experiment

[jaedonsmami23]

The nutrition label on a package of processed cheese food indicates that a 20.0 g serving has 175 Calories. To test this you put a small piece of cheese under a can with 100.0 mL of water and burn the cheese. You find that 1.0 grams of cheese was burned to heat the water. Assume that all of the heat released by the cheese was absorbed by the water(let's pretend), what is the change in temperature of the water at the end of the experiment?

 

[marcusl]

Please read the Rules (tab at top of the page). You must share your attempt at a solution, and indicate where you are having troubles.

 

[jaedonsmami23]

I don't even know where to begin

 

[marcusl]

Ok. How many calories of heat are released per gram of cheese burnt?

 

[asteriatic]

Based on the information provided, we can calculate the amount of heat released by the 1.0 gram of cheese burned. Using the conversion factor of 1 gram of cheese = 175 Calories, we can determine that 1.0 gram of cheese releases 175/20.0 = 8.75 Calories of heat.

Next, we need to calculate the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 100.0 mL of water by 1 degree Celsius, also known as the specific heat capacity of water. This value is 4.18 Joules/g°C.

Using the formula Q = mCΔT, where Q is the heat released, m is the mass of the water, C is the specific heat capacity, and ΔT is the change in temperature, we can solve for ΔT.

Plugging in the values, we get:

8.75 Calories = 100.0 g x 4.18 J/g°C x ΔT

ΔT = 8.75 Calories / (100.0 g x 4.18 J/g°C) = 0.0209°C

Therefore, the change in temperature of the water at the end of the experiment is approximately 0.0209°C. This small change in temperature is not significant and may not be detectable by most thermometers. It is important to note that this experiment is a simplified model and does not take into account other factors such as heat loss to the surrounding environment.