Specific Heat Capacity

This lesson explains what specific heat capacity means, introduces the equation linking energy, mass and temperature change, and works through several exam-style calculations. Specific heat capacity is a required equation for the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science specification (1SC0).

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What Is Specific Heat Capacity?

Different materials heat up at different rates. The property that quantifies this is specific heat capacity (SHC).

Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of a substance by 1 °C (or 1 K).

$E = m c \Delta\theta$E=mcΔθ

Symbol	Quantity	Unit
$E$E	Energy transferred	joules (J)
$m$m	Mass	kilograms (kg)
$c$c	Specific heat capacity	joules per kilogram per degree Celsius (J/kg °C)
$\Delta\theta$Δθ	Temperature change	degrees Celsius (°C) or kelvin (K)

Exam Tip: The symbol $\Delta\theta$Δθ (delta-theta) means "change in temperature". You calculate it as: $\Delta\theta = \text{final temperature} - \text{initial temperature}$Δθ=final temperature−initial temperature.

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Rearranging the Equation