Specific heat capacity
What Specific heat capacity means in Physics A-Level, as defined for AQA, OCR.
Definitions of Specific heat capacity
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Reference: OCR
The energy needed per unit mass per unit temperature change, linking energy transfer to temperature change for a fixed mass with no phase change.
A material property denoted by c, measured in J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹, used in the equation Q = mc∆θ for a change of temperature.
Used in ΔE = mcΔθ when a substance changes temperature without changing state, where c is specific heat capacity.
The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of a substance by 1 K, measured in J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹.
Topics that use Specific heat capacity
- Thermal energy transfer (A-level only) (AQA A-Level)
- Solid, liquid and gas (OCR A-Level)
- Thermal properties of materials (OCR A-Level)
Related terms
- Internal energy
- Absolute zero
- Brownian motion
- Change of phase
- Change of state
- Changes of state and constant temperature
- Conservation of energy
- Constant temperature during phase change
Using Specific heat capacity in the exam
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