Ideally, when a thermometer is used to measure the temperature of an object, the

Question

Ideally, when a thermometer is used to measure the temperature of an object, the temperature of the object itself should not change. However, if a significant amount of heat flows from the object to the thermometer, the temperature will change. A thermometer has a mass of 35.0 g, a specific heat capacity of c = 815 J/(kg · C°), and a temperature of 12.0° C. It is immersed in 119 g of water, and the final temperature of the water and thermometer is 43.4° C. What was the temperature of the water before the insertion of the thermometer?

Explanation / Answer

The thermometer will absorb a number of joules given by
Absorbed by thermo = 0.0350 kg x 815 j/kg/C deg x( 43.4-12.0) C deg = 895.685 J

This will cool trhe water by

dT = 895.685 J/[ 119 g x 1 cal/g/Cdeg x 4.184 J/cal] = 1.8 C deg

So the water temperature before the thermometer was inserted is
T= 43.4+1.8= 45.2 C deg. before thermometer was inserted.

Calculations maybe wrong, Logic is correct.

Hope this helps :)

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