Cooling graph of two metals

In my view, only statement (1) is correct.

By Newton's Law of Cooling, the rate of loss of heat is proportional to the excess temperature (i.e. temprature above the surroundings). Since the two metals are initially at the same temperature, their heat loss rates are the same, hence,

Rate of heat loss = m.c1.T1 = m.c2.T2
where m is he mass of each metal
c1 and c2 are their specific heat capacities respectively
T1 and T2 are the rate of fall in temperature for the two metals rexpectively

i.e. c1/c2 = T2/T1
hence, the specific heat capacity is inversely proportional to the rate of temperature fall

Since the rate of temperature fall for Q is larger than that for P, the specific heat capacity for Q is thus smaller than that for P.

Statement (2) is wrong because the rate of heat loss is only proportional to the excess temperature and is not related to the specific heat capacity.

Statement (3) is also wrong.
When you hand touches metal Q with your hand, the temperature rise of Q is much higher than if you touches metal P because Q has a lower specific heat capacity. You would then feel Q hotter than P.

In fact, you feel cool when touching an object is mainly because of the thermal conduction of the object rather than its specific heat capacity.

cipker, your suggested answer is wrong.

The time used is directly propotional to the energy loss by the metals
Therefore,t=k x E
Slope of the line=△T /△t=△T /(k x E)=1/( mck)
where c is the specfic heat capacity of the metals
As the slope of P is smaller, then 1/( mck) is smaller too,so c is greater,(1) is correct
Since Q need less time to obtain a low temperature,The rate of energy given out from metal Q is greater than that of metal P.(2) is correct.
Since (2) is correct,it implies that the rate of energy absorbed by metal Q is also greater than that of metal P,more heat from our hands are absorbed by the metals,so we feel cooler when touching Q by our hands.




2008-08-12 23:45:17 補充：
Becareful for the statement 3.P and Q must have a temperature less than the room temperature otherwise they would not show the above result.When we touch them by our hands,since our hands have a lower temperature,heat is transferred from meatls to our hands.

2008-08-12 23:45:21 補充：
If the heat capacity of the object is smaller,under the same temperature change,heat released/absorbed is comparatively less.Think about it twice,it is resonable
As the heat capacity of Q is smaller,less heat transfer to our hands,hence our hands feel cooler

2008-08-12 23:48:31 補充：
I make a wrong analysis for statement 3 in the first answer,sorry,please check the above 補充內容