What is Heat capacity: Definition and 437 Discussions

Heat capacity or thermal capacity is a physical property of matter, defined as the amount of heat to be supplied to an object to produce a unit change in its temperature. The SI unit of heat capacity is joule per kelvin (J/K).
Heat capacity is an extensive property. The corresponding intensive property is the specific heat capacity, found by dividing the heat capacity of an object by its mass. Dividing the heat capacity by the amount of substance in moles yields its molar heat capacity. The volumetric heat capacity measures the heat capacity per volume. In architecture and civil engineering, the heat capacity of a building is often referred to as its thermal mass .

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  1. C

    Problem on entropy change and specific heat capacity

    Calculate the change in entropy of the Universe as a result of the following operations: (a) A copper block of mass 0.4kg and thermal capacity 150JK-1 at 100◦C is placed in a lake at 10◦C. dS=dQ/T dQ=mCdT Tried simply combining these equations and integrating to find change of entropy of...
  2. R

    High density, Less-Volatile, High Heat capacity Fluid

    hey :smile: I am a college student and am looking for a liquid having the following properties at very low temperatures (probably around 100-150 K) - 1) Very high density 2) Very high temperature of vaporization 3) Less- Volatile 4) High specific heat capacity
  3. K

    Exploring Heat Capacity Measurements at Low Temperatures: A Comprehensive Guide

    Hi, I am looking for an introduction to heat capacity measurements at low temperature (10K). (For example for producing the linear dependence of the electronic heat capacity on T). I fail to find a simple introduction. Can anyone mention keypoints or a good source? Thank you!
  4. T

    Heat capacity using Debye dispersion relation

    Homework Statement Using the Debye dispersion approximation, calculate the heat capacity of a harmonic, monatomic, 1D lattice. Next, find the temperature dependence in the low temperature limit. (Assume that the longitudinal mode has spring constant CL = C, and the two transverse modes both...
  5. K

    Heat Capacity at Constant Pressure

    Homework Statement I have an ideal gas of n=1023 point particles with a constant pressure of P = 3x105 Pa as 200J of heat flows into it. What is the heat capacity at constant pressure, CP? Homework Equations CV = (ΔU + PΔV)/ΔT The Attempt at a Solution Okay... So I have N, P and Q...
  6. M

    Adiabatic expansion with temperature dependent heat capacity.

    Homework Statement 1 mole of an ideal gas initially at 100° C and 10 atm is expanded adiabatically against a constant pressure of 5 atm until equilibrium is re-established. Given that the temperature dependence of the heat capacity is CV = 18.83 + 0.0209T calculate deltaU, deltaH and deltaS...
  7. S

    How Does Relativistic Velocity Affect the Heat Capacity of an Ideal Gas?

    Hello All, would anyone know an expression for the heat capacity of an ideal gas, moving with relativistic speeds. For non-relativistic gas, the heat capacity is a constant, proportional to R (the universal gas const) Many thanks.
  8. G

    Heat Capacity and specific heat

    Homework Statement I am confused about what the difference between specific heat and heat capacity is. I have a block of metal (Aluminium) which I had to record dimensions and calculate the heat capacity of the block. I am just wondering am I doing the correct calculation? Homework...
  9. D

    Specific Heat Capacity Problem

    Homework Statement A 30.0g block of ice at 0.00°C is dropped into 500.0g of water at 45.0°C. If the process was carried out in an iron container with a mass of 150g what would the final temperature be? Homework Equations Q=mc(T2-T1) Heat Lost = Heat Gained Specific Heat of Water: 4200 Specific...
  10. Pythagorean

    Cold Capacity: Exploring the Opposite of Heat Capacity

    "cold capacity" We are taught the notion of heat capacity in undergraduate physics and how different materials can hold a different maximum of heat energy per unit volume. Is there an opposite notion? Obviously heat is energy, so cold is just lack of it... but my intuition tells me that if I...
  11. Kelsi_Jade

    Dielectrics, heat capacity and polarization

    Consider a dielecrtic with polarization P=(a+b/T)\epsilon and heat capactiy C\epsilon=A+B\epsilon, where a and b are constants. Show that B=2bV/T2 and find the isothermal dielectric constant \kappael. Use properties of G(T,\epsilon) I'm really not sure where to start with this one. Any help...
  12. Raerin

    MHB Heat Capacity: Mixing 100g Water @2C & 50g Ice @-4C

    If 100g of water at 2 degrees Celsius is mixed with 50g of ice a -4 degrees Celsius, what is the final temperature of water? It also says that I need the heat of fusion of the ice to solve it, which I have found to be 334 kj/kg. I don't know what to do with the heat of fusion. Also, how do I...
  13. B

    Finding specific heat capacity of a non-monatomic (ideal gas)

    Homework Statement Suppose that 31.4 J of heat is added to an ideal gas. The gas expands at a constant pressure of 1.40x104 Pa while changing its volume from 3.00x104 to 8.00x104 m3. The gas is not monatomic, so the relation CP = 5/2R does not apply. (a) Determine the change in the internal...
  14. Rugile

    Thermodynamics. Finding specific heat capacity

    Homework Statement Ideal gas of point particles is expanding so that its molar heat capacity Cx is constant and the work done by gas is W = 156J. Then the gas is isochorically heated to the initial temperature by receiving the quantity of heat which is Q = 125 J. Find Cx. Homework...
  15. Q

    Heat Capacity and Temperature Change

    Homework Statement Two metals of identical masses and initial temperatures are dropped into water which has a lower temperature than the metals. Both the water and the metals have the same mass. One metal has a higher heat capacity than the other metal. Which metal will change the...
  16. T

    Specific heat capacity and heat capacity?

    A spark does not cause injury when it strikes the skin of a child. If you touch the burning stem, it can cause severe burn on your fingers? WHY? What's the difference between specific heat capacity and heat capacity?
  17. andyrk

    Specific Heat Capacity of a body

    How does the amount of heat absorbed by a body depend on the mass of the body and surrounding conditions such as pressure?
  18. Saitama

    Thermodynamics: Finding the molar heat capacity

    Homework Statement An ideal gas has a molar heat capacity ##C_V## at constant volume. Find the molar heat capacity of this gas as a function of its volume ##V##, if the gas undergoes the following process: ##T=T_0e^{\alpha V}## here ##T_0## and ##\alpha## are constants.Homework Equations The...
  19. A

    What is the significance of heat capacity at extreme temperatures?

    So heat capacity is the change in the mean value of the internal energy when the temperature is changed: C = d<E>/dt But I would like a little more intuition than that. T^(-1) = dS/d<E>, so going back to the intuition that the inverse of the temperature is a measure of how disordered the system...
  20. C

    Ideal Gas Heat Capacity Regression Coefficients

    I'm trying to find a comprehensive list of the empirical coefficients to be used in the following equation for calculating ideal gas constant pressure heat capacities: \frac{c^{IG}_P}{R}=A+BT+CT^{2}+DT^{-2}+ET^{3}(Eqn. 1) cPIG is the ideal gas constant pressure specific heat capacity; R is...
  21. P

    Water and copper heat capacity difference due to potential energy?

    I was looking at this page and it explains the heat capacity difference between copper and water in terms of a difference in potential energy change as the molecules are heated. What does that mean? I know water has polar bonding so is it due to the water molecules having much stronger...
  22. Y

    Higher Specific Heat Capacity: Explained

    Now consider two objects,A and B. A has a higher specific heat capacity that B. When both object is subjected to same amount of thermal or heat energy, rise in temperature in A is lower as our common reason(A has a higher specific heat capacity) But what stated by First law of thermodynamics...
  23. P

    Thermodynamics - monotomic/diatomig gas heat capacity question

    Thermodynamics -- monotomic/diatomig gas heat capacity question Homework Statement GRADE 12 CHEMISTRY: Why would a monotomic gas like Helium require less heat than a diatomic gas like hydrogen to undergo the same temperature increase? Homework Equations q=mcΔT The Attempt at a...
  24. R

    Specific Heat Capacity, Heat Energy, Thermodynamics Physics

    Homework Statement A block of ice has a mass of 150g and a temperature of -4°. The ice is melted by supplying 60KJ heat energy. Determine the final temperature of the melted water. Homework Equations Equations i think can be used: Q = ml and H = mcΔθ The Attempt at a Solution...
  25. Y

    Heat Capacity Numerical Problem

    Homework Statement I am working on a problem for my Thermal Physics course. In short, its a numerical problem. I had to go through some Excel calculations and end up with two columns of numbers. One, C/Nk, where C-heat capacity, k-boltzmann constant, N-number of particles and the other is...
  26. F

    Photon energy and specific heat capacity

    If I use the answer given in the book for part a, I can get the correct answers for b and c. However, I do not know what I have done wrong in part a? My best guess would be that assuming the blood evaporates at 100 degrees is incorrect? The answer given in the book is 5.1*10^{-3}J
  27. T

    Diethyl Phthalate Specific Heat Capacity

    Does anyone know where I can find the specific heat capacity of Diethyl Phthalate? I tried google but couldn't find it. Any help would be appreciated.
  28. J

    Specific heat capacity of Argon dependence on temperature

    Hi boys and girls. I am looking for Specific heat capacity of Argon dependence on temperature but i can't seem to find it anywhere. Do you have some source where I could get it from?. I need it for temperatures up to 1300K since i need to evaluate enthalpy of fumes at the exit from a gas...
  29. Saxby

    The specific heat capacity of solids

    Why is the specific heat capacity of most solids around 25JK-1mol-1? I remember being told ages ago that is was something to do with the theory of equipartition but I'm not really sure how that theory affects it or why it's around 25JK-1mol-1
  30. C

    Is entropy the same as heat capacity?

    A formula for entropy: dS=dQ/dT This is a formula that represents the rate of change of heat with respect to temperature. Q=mcdT This is another formula that states how the temperature changes as heat is added. from this can we say that entropy is just specific heat capacity * Mass...
  31. S

    Heat Capacity of a classical ideal gas and SHO

    Homework Statement Ideal gas. In an ideal-gas model. N molecules move almost indepdently with very weak interactions between, in a three-dimensional box of volume V. Find the heat capacity of the system. SHO. Consider N independent SHOs in a system. each osciallating about a fixed point...
  32. P

    Calculating molar specific heat capacity - not a monatomic gas

    1. Suppose that 25 J of heat is added to one mole of an ideal gas. The gas expands at a constant pressure of 2.62 x 10^4 pascals while changing its volume rom 4.97 x 10^-4 m^3 to 7.02 x 10^-4 m^3. Calculate C_p and express in Joule / (mole * Celsius) 2. Relevant equations Q =...
  33. S

    Differences between heat capacity and thermal conductivity/convection

    Homework Statement I learned that the heat capacity is the amount of energy absorbed to raise the temperature of a body by 1 degrees. While conduction is the process of heat transfer by vibrations. That being said, when I supply 1000N of heat to 2 rods of different material but same mass the...
  34. S

    Finding the specific heat capacity of water using the gradient of a graph

    Homework Statement Hi. I have an assignment to find the specific heat capacity of water. We did an experiment in class where we used an electric kettle with power output of 1850W-2200W to heat up 1,400g of water (we actually used 1,400 mL of tap water but we were told to assume that the tap...
  35. S

    Metal Low Specific Heat: Why Is It Useful?

    Metals have the low specific heat capacity.why is the low specific heat capacity useful?
  36. M

    Specific heat capacity for adiabatic & isothermal process

    Can we define specific heat capacity for an adiabatic process ?? Would it always be zero since dQ is 0 for an adiabatic process? Also, can we define specific heat capacity for isothermal processes ? Would it be infinity in all cases? Just want to verify if I am thinking along the...
  37. F

    Rearranging equation for heat capacity

    1. To determine whether a shiny gold rock is actually gold, a student decides to measure its heat capacity. She first weighs the rock and finds it has a mass of 4.7g. She then finds that upon absorbtion of 57.2 J of heat, the temperature of the rock rises from 25 degree Celsius to 57 degree...
  38. M

    Liquids, internal energy and specific heat capacity

    A liquid contained in an adiabatic container is shaked vigorously so that it its temp. Increases. The heat capacity for the liquid is given, the rise in temp. Is given. According to the first law of thermo, dQ=dW + dU here dQ is 0. Asked, is to find the work done on the system, i.e...
  39. N

    Is heat capacity dependant on volume or pressure?

    hi. When you're given molar heat capacity for a substance, is it when under constant pressure or when under constant volume? Like water's heat a capacity when gaseous is 75kJ/mol - is this under constant volume? For an ideal gas, the formula for heat capacity under constant pressure is: Cp =...
  40. E

    Specific heat capacity of brass

    Homework Statement i getting the wrong the answer i am trying to find the specific heat capacity of brass using copper calorimeter Data : mass of brass bob= 32.5gm mass of calorimeter = 39.7 gm mass of water + calorimeter = 93.9gm mass of water = 93.9 - 39.7 = 54.2g specific...
  41. M

    Specific heat capacity and final temperature

    Homework Statement A 2.8 kg sample of a metal with a specific heat of 0.43KJ/KgC is heated to 100.0C then placed in a 50.0 g sample of water at 30.0C.* What is the final temperature of the metal and the water? Homework Equations heat loss by the metal = heat gain by the water The...
  42. M

    Specific Heat Capacity of aluminum rivets

    Homework Statement Some aluminum rivets of total mass 170 g at 100°C are emptied into a hole in a large block of ice at 0°C' a. What will be the final temperature of the rivets? b. How much ice will melt? Homework Equations none The Attempt at a Solution Please help me answer...
  43. M

    Specific Heat Capacity of Tantalum

    I got a problem with this one, please help me, Tantalum is an element that is used in aircraft parts. Tantalum has a specific heat capacity of about 140 J/kg K. The aircraft part has a mass of 0.23 kg and is cooled from a temperature of 1200 K by being placed in water. If 30000 J of heat is...
  44. S

    Heat capacity of gas at zero K

    Hello All, I have been trying to find an established expression cp = cp(T) for a gas asymptotically close to zero K, as well as showing how does the function grow/behave in the low-temperature regions. This can be an idealized mono/diatomic gas Do you know a reference I can read about...
  45. T

    Question About Measuring Specific Heat Capacity

    Recently, I did a physics lab experiment to find the specific heat capacity of an unknown sample material. The lab instructions kept insisting that the sample had to be kept in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. My question is why? Could I have found the specific heat capacity if the sample...
  46. W

    Why the heat capacity of water is high?

    which material has the highest heat capacity?
  47. C

    What determines specific heat capacity of a solid?

    Homework Statement Have to do a write up of an experiment on specific heat capacity of metals. Tested 50g of nickel and lead, each heated to 90C and then put into 50g of water and measuring the change in its temperature. Found that lead has a lower specific heat capacity. Homework Equations...
  48. C

    Heat capacity and its relation with internal energy

    hi everyone, in thermodynamics, when we calculate the heat capacity in constant volume, we assume Cv=dQ/dT.. well, but at isothermal condition suddenly they came up with Cv=dU/dT... so i am getting stuck with this concept how they replace dQ with dU? i know U= internal energy is only a...
  49. C

    Diagram to represent heat capacity?

    1. How do I draw a diagram to demonstrate why motor oil has a higher specific heat capacity than water?
  50. K

    Entropy and Heat Capacity have the same units. Connection? Redundancy?

    Given that heat capacity is a ratio of change of energy over change of temperature, while entropy is a change of energy over absolute temperature... I was wondering if there is any basis for the idea that energy will tend to flow from media having low heat capacity to media having high heat...
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