Temperature change
Calculate final temperature minus initial temperature; do not substitute the final temperature itself.
AQA 8463 · §4.1.1.3 calculation subset
Specific heat capacity: five places a calculation can break.
This reviewed journey checks temperature change, equation and substitution, rearrangement, calculator value and reporting as separate states—then changes the physical context to test retrieval rather than copying.
Reviewed family · Studara-authored items · No grade-uplift claim
The lost mark
One answer. Several places the method can fail.
Studara does not reduce the response to right or wrong. The reviewed contract checks these states independently.
Equation and substitution
Use ΔE = mcΔθ and place energy, specific heat capacity and temperature change correctly.
Rearrange for mass
Make m the subject by dividing energy by cΔθ.
Calculator value
Preserve the unrounded value before the requested reporting step.
Reported answer
Give the mass in kilograms to the requested two significant figures.
Why it goes wrong
The diagnosis stays uncertainty-safe.
A wrong response can support a specific measured diagnosis. A blind multiple-choice diagnostic records only a possible cause until later working provides stronger evidence.
01
Final temperature replaces Δθ
The most visible temperature is substituted instead of calculating the change.
02
Equation or quantity mismatch
Energy or specific heat capacity is placed in the wrong state of the equation.
03
Rearrangement leak
The correct values appear, but mass has not been isolated as ΔE ÷ (cΔθ).
04
Rounding hides the route
Calculator precision and the final two-significant-figure answer are checked separately.
The worked repair
Repair the smallest broken step.
Teaching is not evidence. This sequence is the repair; the proof checks begin after it disappears.
- 1
Write Δθ = final temperature − initial temperature before touching the main equation.
- 2
Write ΔE = mcΔθ and substitute with units kept visible.
- 3
Rearrange to m = ΔE ÷ (cΔθ).
- 4
Calculate without early rounding, then report the mass in kg to two significant figures.
What happens after the repair
Correction is the start, not the result.
Immediate
A new material and values
The same five-state calculation is attempted without the repair beside it.
Delayed
Parallel form later
A different authored form checks retrieval after a real calendar delay.
Transfer
Context, entity and values change
The material moves into a calorimeter, engine-component or heat-sink context while the invariant equation remains.
Exam
Four minutes, exam-like
The final form is timed, source-aligned and carries a five-state tariff.
REVIEWED BOUNDARY
This is a bounded mass-from-energy calculation family for AQA 8463, with an independently bound Combined Science identity in the product. Required-practical evaluation, power–time derivations, graph interpretation and unrestricted handwritten responses are not claimed here.
Straight answers
Before you use this guide.
What equation is used for specific heat capacity?
The reviewed family uses ΔE = mcΔθ, where Δθ is the temperature change rather than the final temperature.
Why are there five checked states?
The product contract records temperature change, substitution, rearrangement, calculator value and the reported answer separately, so a final error does not erase correct earlier working.
Does this cover every specific-heat-capacity question?
No. It covers a bounded mass-from-energy calculation family. Practical evaluation, graphs and broader derivations are outside this page's reviewed claim.
Turn this method into evidence