T/F The specific heat of copper is about 3R

[johnqwertyful]

Homework Statement

This was a problem I had on a stat mech exam awhile ago and I never figured out how to answer it. It asked "True or false, the specific heat of copper at room temperature is approximately $3R$".

Homework Equations

$$C=\frac{Q}{\Delta T}$$

The Attempt at a Solution

Honestly, I was totally confused what to do. This was a test with no tables of specific heat, no periodic table, no nothing. Normally I would just look it up but I couldn't in this case. Is there a way of deriving this from principles? Or is it something I should have memorized?

Edit, hey could someone fix the title? I should have used # sign instead of $

 

[TSny]

Were you expected to be familiar with the law of Dulong and Petit? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulong–Petit_law

 

[johnqwertyful]

I have literally never heard of that law. Thanks for the resource! Maybe it was covered in the class, but I don't remember it ever coming up. Although it's nice to know that it's something I could have reasonably known.