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Have you ever thought about why doctors suggest warm water gargles when your throat has an infection? If you have, you must understand that the reason behind this is the heat capacity of water. You might’ve experienced it in several instances, such as dipping your toes in seawater after walking through the hot sand, pouring water on the radiator when the car heats up, and more. In most such circumstances, the heat capacity of water saves you. So, what is heat capacity or specific heat? Read on to find out.
Specific heat is the total energy required to raise a substance’s temperature by one degree Celsius per gramme. Typically, the units of heat capacity are calories or joules per gramme per degree Celsius. As is common knowledge, a substance’s temperature rises when it absorbs heat energy. It has been discovered that each substance’s temperature rise differs when the same amount of heat is applied to an identical mass of different substances. This occurs due to the variance in heat capabilities among various substances. The amount of heat needed to raise a substance’s temperature to one degree is called a substance’s heat capacity. The term “specific heat capacity” refers to a substance’s heat capacity if its mass is unity.
The heat required to raise the temperature of liquid water is considerable because hydrogen bonds between the molecules must be broken. Or, to put it another way, water has a large heat capacity. Water can reduce temperature variations due to its large heat capacity. For example, water has a heat capacity that is approximately five times more than sand’s. After sunset, the sea cools more slowly than the land, and during the night, the slowly cooling sea can leak heat to neighbouring land. Warm-blooded animals use water to transfer heat from warm to cold areas of their bodies, helping the body maintain a constant temperature. Water works similarly to a car’s cooling system.
The heat capacity of substances differs based on the mass of substances. The heat capacities of some common substances are given below:
| Material | Specific Heat in J/kg°C | Specific Heat in Cal/gram°C |
| Olive oil | 1790 | 0.43 |
| Paper | 1336 | 0.32 |
| Quartz Sand | 830 | 0.19 |
| Steel | 490 | 0.12 |
| Liquid Water | 4182 | 1.00 |
| Table Salt | 880 | 0.21 |
| Gold | 129 | 0.031 |
| Air | 1005 | 0.24 |
| Leather | 1500 | 0.36 |
| Wood | 1300 – 2400 | 0.41 |
There are several applications of heat capacity. Few of them are listed below:
We hope this article on specific heat helps. If you have any doubts regarding this topic, feel to reach out to us.
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