This all-in-one online Specific Heat Calculator performs calculations using a formula that relates the specific heat capacity of a given mass of a substance to the heat energy received by that substance and the change in its temperature. You can enter the values of any three parameters in the fields of the calculator and find the missing parameter.
c = Q / (m·ΔT)
Specific Heat Formula
The specific heat is the quantity of heat per unit mass required to raise the temperature of a substance by one degree Celsius. The relationship between heat and temperature change is usually expressed in the form of the following specific heat formula:
$$c = \frac{Q}{m \cdot \Delta T},$$
where
• \(c \ \) is the specific heat capacity of the substance,
• \(m \ \) is the mass of the substance,
• \(\Delta T \ \) is the change in temperature of the substance (measured in ºC or Kelvin),
• \(Q \ \) is the heat energy received by the substance.
The unit of specific heat capacity is joules per kilogram per Kelvin: \(J/(kg \cdot K) \).
Note that the temperature in degrees Celsius differs from the temperature in Kelvin only by the reference point. And, since the above formula includes a change in temperature, it doesn’t matter whether the temperature is measured in degrees Celsius or Kelvin. If the temperature is measured in degrees Fahrenheit, the calculation must take into account that a temperature change of 1 degree Fahrenheit corresponds to a change of 1.8 degrees Celsius. All these and other unit conversions are automatically performed by our Specific Heat Calculator.
It is important to emphasize that the above relationship does not apply if the substance undergoes a phase transition when heated, because heat added or removed during a phase transition does not change the temperature.
It is also important to remember that the amount of energy required to raise body temperature by one degree varies depending on the restrictions imposed. If heat is added to a gas at a constant volume, the amount of heat required to increase the temperature by one degree is less than if heat were added to the same gas free to expand and therefore to do work.
In the first case, all the energy goes to raise the temperature of the gas, but in the second case, the energy not only contributes to raising the temperature of the gas, but also provides the energy necessary for the gas to do work. Consequently, the specific heat of a substance depends on these conditions. The most commonly determined specific heats are the specific heat at constant volume and the specific heat at constant pressure.
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