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Concept
Specific heat capacity
Summary
In thermodynamics, the specific heat capacity (symbol c) of a substance is the heat capacity of a sample of the substance divided by the mass of the sample, also sometimes referred to as massic heat capacity. Informally, it is the amount of heat that must be added to one unit of mass of the substance in order to cause an increase of one unit in temperature. The SI unit of specific heat capacity is joule per kelvin per kilogram, J⋅kg−1⋅K−1. For example, the heat required to raise the temperature of 1kg of water by 1K is 4184joules, so the specific heat capacity of water is 4184J⋅kg−1⋅K−1.
Specific heat capacity often varies with temperature, and is different for each state of matter. Liquid water has one of the highest specific heat capacities among common substances, about 4184J⋅kg−1⋅K−1 at 20 °C; but that of ice, just below 0 °C, is only 2093J⋅kg−1⋅K−1. The specific heat capacities of iron, granite, and hydrogen gas are about 449 J⋅kg−1⋅K−1, 790 J⋅kg−1⋅K−1, and 14300 J⋅kg−1⋅K−1, respectively. While the substance is undergoing a phase transition, such as melting or boiling, its specific heat capacity is technically undefined, because the heat goes into changing its state rather than raising its temperature.
The specific heat capacity of a substance, especially a gas, may be significantly higher when it is allowed to expand as it is heated (specific heat capacity at constant pressure) than when it is heated in a closed vessel that prevents expansion (specific heat capacity at constant volume). These two values are usually denoted by and , respectively; their quotient is the heat capacity ratio.
The term specific heat may also refer to the ratio between the specific heat capacities of a substance at a given temperature and of a reference substance at a reference temperature, such as water at 15 °C; much in the fashion of specific gravity. Specific heat capacity is also related to other intensive measures of heat capacity with other denominators.
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