You are trying to find the specific heat capacity, C of a metal block. When calcualting C, you assume the block absorbs all the energy, but some is lost to surroundings. If its absorbing less energy then it would take longer to heat up, this would make it seem as though C was higher than it really is. Is this correct?
Is there any scenario where the calculated value for C was LESS than it actually was?
Why is it important to cool the metal block below room temp before the experiment is started?