What is the difference between specific heat and heat capacity?

Heat capacity is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of an object by 1oC. The specific heat of a substance is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of the substance by 1oC.

Can specific heat capacity change?

While the substance is undergoing a phase transition, such as melting or boiling, its specific heat capacity is technically infinite, because the heat goes into changing its state rather than raising its temperature.

Is specific heat and specific heat capacity the same thing?

Heat capacity is the amount of heat needed to change the temperature of a substance by 1 degree Celsius , while specific heat is the heat needed to change the temperature of 1 gram of substance by 1 degree Celsius. Whereas heat capacity is dependent on the amount of substance, heat capacity is independent of it.

How to calculate specific heat capacity?

Find the initial and final temperature as well as the mass of the sample and energy supplied.

Subtract the final and initial temperature to get the change in temperature (ΔT).

Multiply the change in temperature with the mass of the sample.

Divide the heat supplied/energy with the product.

The formula is C = Q/(ΔT ⨉ m).

Which has a highest specific heat capacity?

Water has the highest specific heat capacity. It therefore takes a long time to heat and long time to cool. The following uses/ effects are due to the high specific heat capacity of water.

What factors affect specific heat capacity?

Heat Capacity – Theory of Heat Capacity – Factors That Affect Specific Heat Capacity. In general, for this reason, specific heat capacities tend to fall at lower temperatures where the average thermal energy available to each particle degree of freedom is smaller, and thermal energy storage begins to be limited by these quantum effects. Due to this process, as temperature falls toward absolute zero, so also does heat capacity.