The specific heat (or specific heat capacity) of a substance, denoted by the letter c, is a characteristic property. It provides information on the precise capacity of this substance to absorb or release heat.
It is determined by the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of the unit mass of a substance by one degree.
In other words, specific heat capacity is the amount of heat that one gram of a substance must absorb for its temperature to rise by one degree Celsius. It can also be the amount of heat that needs to be released by one gram of this substance for its temperature to drop by one degree Celsius.
The unit of measurement for specific heat capacity is J/(g·°C).
Since this is a characteristic property, the specific heat capacity is specific to each substance. Therefore, the higher the specific heat capacity of a substance, the more the substance must be heated to raise its temperature.
The specific heat capacity of water is |4.19| J/(g·°C) while that of ethylene glycol is |2.20| J (g·°C). This means that for the same mass, the water must be heated more to observe the same increase in temperature.
A table of the specific heat capacities of different substances can be found by referring to the following concept sheet: The specific heat capacity of some substances.
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