What is specific heat and what does it measure?

Read the definition of specific heat. Answer the questions.

Specific heat of a substance

The specific heat of a substance (denoted by the letter ) is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of substance by degree. It also shows how much energy is released from a substance if the temperature of one kilogram of substance is reduced by degrees.

Specific heats of some substances

The table shows the specific heats of several well-known substances.

How is this knowledge useful to us?

If we know the specific heat of a material, we can estimate how much heat we can put into the body from that material. In addition, we can tell how quickly that body will heat up and cool down. This is very useful knowledge for choosing food, for example, or for detecting tumour cells in medicine.