Specific Heat Capacity

• What is temperature?


  A measure of the average kinetic energy of particles in a substance (how hot something is)
• What is temperature measured in?


  Degrees celcius
• What is thermal energy?


  The energy a system has because of its temperature.
• What is thermal energy measured in?


  Joules
• If two items are the same temperature but different volumes, the item with the bigger volume has more thermal energy.
• What is specific heat capacity?


  the amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of 1kg of a substance by 1 degree
• What is the unit for specific heat capacity?


  Joules per kilogram per degree Celsius (J/kg°C)
• What is the specific heat capacity equation?


  Change in thermal energy = mass x SHC x Temperature change
• Substances with a high specific heat capacity need to gain more energy in their thermal energy store to increase its temperature but store more thermal energy and release more energy.