Physics
Lead pellets of total mass 0.46 kg are heated to 107 C and then placed in a well-insulated aluminum cup of mass 0.15 kg that contains 0.52 kg of water initially at 13.8 C. What is the equilibrium temperature of the mixture?
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The equilibrium temperature of the mixture would be around 25.6 C. This is because the heat from the pellets would have to be distributed amongst the 0.46 kg of pellets, the 0.15 kg aluminum cup, and the 0.52 kg of water. Since the combination of the pellets and the cup has a smaller thermal mass than the water, it would heat up quicker, while the water would remain relatively colder than the other objects due to its higher thermal mass. Since heat is being transferred from a hotter body to a colder body, this process would continue until the hot body(pellets and cup) and the cold body (water) reach an equilibrium temperature somewhere in between their initial temperatures.
