Test Your Understanding of Heat Capacity and Specific Heat with This Quiz!

Heat Capacity and Specific Heat

• Heat capacity is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of an object by one degree Celsius or one Kelvin.
• Specific heat is the heat capacity of one gram of a substance, while molar heat capacity is the heat capacity for one mole of a substance.
• The specific heat of water is 4.18 joules per gram degrees Celsius, meaning it takes 4.18 joules to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.
• The molar heat capacity of water is 75.2 joules per mole degree Celsius.
• The equation q = mC(delta T) can be used to calculate the heat transferred for different substances with different specific heats.
• To warm 250 grams of water from 22°C to 98°C, it requires 7.9 x 10^4 joules of energy transferred.
• Specific heat can vary slightly with temperature, so it is often specified when looking at a table for specific heats.
• The specific heat of aluminum is 0.90 joules per gram Kelvin, while the specific heat of iron is 0.45 joules per gram Kelvin.
• Adding 1.0 x 10^2 joules of energy to 10 grams of aluminum results in a temperature change of 11°C, while adding the same amount of energy to 10 grams of iron results in a temperature change of 22°C.
• The lower the specific heat, the easier it is to change the temperature of a substance.
• Iron has a lower specific heat than aluminum, making it easier to change the temperature of iron.
• Water has a relatively high specific heat, meaning its temperature is relatively resistant to change.