Specific+Heat+of+Common+Materials



This chart is used to determine how much heat energy is needed to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance one degree C. The higher the specific heat, the more energy is needed.

Using Iron as an example, we want to determine how much energy must be added to raise the temperature of 10 grams 2 C.

Specific heat =energy/mass x temperature change Cp = e/m x t f - t i (t f - t i is used to find the change in temperature, final temp - initial temp)

solving for energy we get energy = Specific heat x mass x temperature e=Cp x m x ( t f - t i) adding in the terms: e= 0.11cal/gC x 10g x 2C e= 2.2 calories

Example Problems