We all have some knowledge of what specific heat is, after all, we have gone through Physics in High School. It is the amount of heat that required to raise the temperature of a certain substance by a certain amount. The amount of heat depends on the properties of the substance. This means that the amount of heat will vary for different substances. Specific heat is a measure of how thermally insensitive a substance is when it’s subjected to an addition of energy. This specific heat calculator is a tool to help you calculate the specific heat of different substances.
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How to use the specific heat calculator?
This heat capacity calculator is an especially beneficial tool if you need to calculate the specific heat of a substance without using the specific heat equation. This is an easy online tool for you to use. To get the specific heat of a substance, follow these steps:
- First, enter the value for the Energy then choose the unit of measurement from the drop-down menu. The choices include joules, kilojoules, megajoules, watt-hours, kilowatt hours, kilocalories or foot-pounds.
- Then enter the value for the Change in Temperature then choose the unit of measurement from the drop-down menu. The choices are ˚C, ˚F or K.
- Finally, enter the value for the Mass then choose the unit of measurement from the drop-down menu. The choices include g, kg, pounds or ounces.
- After entering all of the values, the specific heat calculator will automatically generate the value for the Specific Heat Capacity.
How do you calculate specific heat?
This heat calculator or calorimetry calculator can help us determine the heat capacity of a sample that’s heated or cooled. If we use the metric system, the specific heat is the amount of heat that’s needed for a sample which weighs 1 kg to elevate its temperature by 1K. Here are the steps for using the formula for specific heat:
- First, decide whether you will warm up or cool the sample.
- Write down the value of the energy supplied using a positive value. Conversely, if you’re cooling the sample down, write down the value of the energy using a negative value. For instance, if you want to lower the sample’s thermal energy by 60000 J, then:
Q = -60000 J.
- Before starting, you should already have decided what the difference in temperature will be between the sample’s starting state and final state. Write this information down. If you cool the sample down, this difference will have a negative value. And conversely, if you warm the sample up, it will have a positive value. For instance, if you’re cooling down the sample by 3-degrees, then:
ΔT = – 3K
- Write down the sample’s mass:
m = 5 mkg.
- Now you can calculate the specific heat using this formula:
c = Q / (m * ΔT)
- If you substitute the values from the previous steps you will have
c = -60000 J / (5 kg * -3 K) = 4200 J / kg*K which is water’s normal heat capacity
If you find the manual calculation too difficult or if you want to check the accuracy of the specific heat value you acquire, then you can use this specific heat calculator or a thermal energy calculator.
What is specific heat example?
You can observe a practical example of the application of specific heat through your automatic dishwasher. You place different items in your dishwasher such as ceramic plates, utensils, plastic containers, metal bowls, and others. You will notice something interesting when you open your appliance just after the washing cycle ends.
After about 20 minutes, the ceramic items will be dry. The same with any items made of heavy metal. Bowls made of thin metal may become partly dry but might still have some amount of moisture. The items made of plastic, however, will be almost wet.
The reason for this is that plastics do not have enough specific heat to allow the water droplets to evaporate on their surfaces. Instead, the evaporation of water would cool the material. On the other side of the scale, ceramic items can maintain their heat for longer periods, and they contain sufficient internal heat to allow the water to evaporate. The items made of metal fall between ceramics and plastics but evaporation will depend on how much metal mass is there, relative to the mass of water droplets on their surface.
How do you calculate heat capacity?
The heat capacity refers to the amount of energy that’s needed to raise the temperature of a certain substance by 1-degree. This also reflects the property of a substance to maintain heat. As per definition, the heat capacity has a limited application because it is an extensive property, meaning it will depend on the substance’s mass. In Physics, the specific heat capacity is commonly used. This is the heat capacity that’s normal to a unit of mass.
The heat capacity, which is also referred to as the “thermal mass” of an object, is also known as the Energy and is usually expressed in Joules. You can use a thermal energy calculator to get this vale or this formula:
Heat Capacity = mass * specific heat * change in temperature or Q = m * C * ΔT
where:
Q refers to the heat capacity
m refers to the mass
c refers to the specific heat
ΔT refers to the change in temperature
How much energy is required to raise the temperature of one gram of water 1 c?
Ordinary water has a very high specific heat index, meaning it has to absorb a lot of heat before it begins to get hot. This is one important reason why it is a valuable item in the industry. This same index also helps in regulating the rate at which air changes temperature, and this is the reason why changes in temperature between seasons happen gradually rather than abruptly. You can calculate the energy required to raise the temperature of water or any given substance for that matter using this formula:
Q = m * c * ΔT
where
Q refers to the heat required
m refers to the mass of the material
c refers to the specific heat of the material
ΔT refers to the temperature change that occurs
