Heat Capacity and Specific Heat

Different substances respond to heat in different ways. If a metal chair sits in the bright sun on a hot day, it may become quite hot to the touch. An equal mass of water in the same sun will not become nearly as hot. We would say that water has a high heat capacity (the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of an object by 1°C.) Water is very resistant to changes in temperature, while metals in general are not. The specific heat of a substance is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of the substance by 1°C. Table below lists the specific heats of some common substances. The symbol for specific heat is cp, with the p subscript referring to the fact that specific heats are measured at constant pressure. The units for specific heat can either be joules per gram per degree (J/g°C) or calories per gram per degree (cal/g°C). This text will use J/g°C for specific heat.