The Cooling Coffee Conundrum · AI Generator #GEN-D77AB8EF
Physics · thermodynamics
Problem
A barista notices that when she pours hot coffee at 85°C into two identical ceramic mugs, one at room temperature (20°C) and another that was pre-warmed to 50°C, something interesting happens. She pours 200mL of coffee into each mug. The ceramic mugs each have a mass of 150g and the same heat capacity as the coffee. After thermal equilibrium is reached in both cases, she finds that the difference in final temperatures between the two mugs is exactly 10°C. What is the heat capacity per unit mass of the ceramic material? Assume the density of coffee is 1.0g/mL and its specific heat capacity is 4.2J/(g⋅°C).