Latent heat

• Internal energy


  Energy stored inside a system by the particles (atoms and molecules that make up the system). This is called internal energy. Internal energy is the total kinetic energy and potential energy of all the particles (atoms and molecules) that make up a system
• What is specific heat capacity?

  How much energy is required for 1 kg of a substance to go up one degre.
• What will happen if a substance has a higher specific heat capacity?

  it will take more energy to heat up 1 kg of the substance 1 degree higher.
• How is heat capacity calculated?

  Heat capacity = energy divided by ( mass x Change in temperature )
• How can energy be calculated using specific heat capacity?


  specific heat capacity x change in temperature.
• Specific Heat Capacity


  A way of saying how hard it is to heat something up
• Different Materials Have Different Specific Heat Capacities
• Some materials require more energy to increase their temperature by 1°C than others. Eg you need 4200J to warm 1 kg of water by 1°C, but only 139J to warm 1 kg of mercury by 1°C.
• Materials with high specific heat capacity need to gain lots of energy in their thermal energy stores to heat up, but also release a lot of energy when they cool down. They can store a lot of energy.
• Specific heat capacity


  The amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of a substance by 1°C
• Change in thermal energy = mass x specific heat capacity x temperature change
• Investigating Specific Heat Capacities


  1. Measure the mass of the material

  2. Measure the temperature change

  3. Calculate the energy transferred

  4. Divide energy by mass and temperature change to get specific heat capacity
• You can investigate the specific heat capacity of solids and liquids