Question

Why is warm distilled water being used in a calorimeter instead of room temperature water resulting in no change in the specific heat?

Answer 1

A calorimeter is an object used for the process of measuring the heat of chemical reactions or physical changes as well as heat capacity.

The amount of heat transferred to the water is dependent on the specific heat of the substance being investigated and its mass, it is independent of the initial temperature of the water.

As the same amount of heat is being transferred would equally increase the temperature of the water, its final temperature though, depends on the initial temperature. I.e. the temperature difference is calculated between initial and final temperature.

Hence,warm water being used instead of water at room temperature has no director effect on result.