A 500.0-g chunk of an unknown metal, which has been in boiling water for several minutes, is quickly dropped into an insulating Styrofoam beaker containing 1.00 kg of water at room temperature (20.0°C). After waiting and gently stirring for 5.00 minutes, you observe that the water's temperature has reached a constant value of 22.0°C.
(a) Assuming that the Styrofoam absorbs a negligibly small amount of heat and that no heat was lost to the surroundings, what is the specific heat of the metal?
(b) Which is more useful for storing thermal energy: this metal or an equal weight of water? Explain.
(c) What if the heat absorbed by the Styrofoam actually is not negligible. How would the specific heat you calculated in part (a) be in error? Would it be too large, too small, or still correct? Explain.