Lauren is going for a swim at the beach. She notices that the sand is much warmer than the water in the ocean. Which statement best explains why this happens

Answer: seen below.

Explanation:

The statement that best explain this is using the ideology of specific heat capacity. Specific heat is how much heat energy is needed to raise the temperature of a substance. Water tends to have a very high specific heat. That means it needs to absorb a lot of energy before a change in temperature can be noticed. While Sand on the other hand, have lower specific heat capacity. Meaning that their temperatures change more quickly when sun shines on them. Which is why Lauren observed the sand to be more warmer than the temperature on the water.

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Complete question:

Lauren is going for a swim at the beach. She notices that the sand is much warmer than the water in the ocean. Which statement best explains why this happens?

A. Water is unable to absorb energy.

B. Water is unable to release energy.

C. Water has a lower specific heat capacity than sand.

D. Water has a higher specific heat capacity than sand.

Answer:

D. Water has a higher specific heat capacity than sand

Explanation:

Specific Heat Capacity can be defined as the amount of heat that is required to raise the temperature of a body.

The Specific Heat Capacity of Water is known as 4.186joule/gram °C while that or the Specific Heat Capacity of Sand is 0.290joule/gram °C.

When we observe the two values, we notice that the Specific Heat Capacity of water is higher than the Specific Heat Capacity of sand.

Hence, water has to absorb so much heat in order to be able to cause a change in its temperature thereby increasing its temperature. For sand, due to its low specific heat capacity, it doesn't have to absorb so much heat to raise its temperature.

It is because of this reasons above that when Lauren goes to the beach for a swim, she notices that the sand is much warmer than the water in the ocean.