Heat Capacity

Heat Capacity

The concept of Heat Capacity is integral to understanding how the temperature of a substance rises and falls. Heat Capacity is the ratio of energy added or removed from a substance to the temperature change observed in that substance. Typically, heat capacities are expressed in terms of the amount of heat (kJ, J, or kCal) that needs to be added to raise the temperature of a substance by 1 degree (Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin). Typical units of Heat Capacities are J/g, kJ/kg, and BTU/lb-mass. The SI unit of heat capacity is J/g.

Applications

Examples

Problem: You have a burner that emits 15,000 J of heat in the period that it is left on. Will this burner be able to raise 2 kg of water from 50 °C to 52 °C? The specific heat capacity of water is 4,186 J/kg °C.

Solution: Use Q=mCΔT. The amount of heat needed to do the process specified in the question is Q=(2 kg)*(4,186 J/kg °C)*(2 °C)=16,744 J. Since the burner only gives of 15,000 J, the water will not reach the desired temperature.

Problem: What is the specific heat of 3 g substance that takes 100 J to raise 3 degrees.

Solution: Use Q=mCΔT. Q=100 J, m= 3 g, ΔT=3 °C. 100J= (3 g)*(C)*(3 °C). C=11.11111 J/g °C.

Connectedness

1. I am really interested by cooking. This topic has many applications in cooking. For instance, since different materials have different heat capacities, some materials make better cooking utensils than others. You wouldn't want a spatula made out of a material with a low specific heat capacity because it could easily melt and ruin your food! Also, knowing the basics of heat capacity can help you predict how long it will take for water to boil which could make cooking more efficient.
2. My major is Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. This topic has a lot of connectedness to my major. This semester I took the intro ChBE class, and the entire second half of the class dealt with energy balances. Problems involved figuring out how much heat was gained or lost by/from a system when a reaction took place. Because inlet and outlet temperatures were often not at the tabulated reference states for many chemical species, I would often have to use my knowledge of specific heat and heat capacity to figure out enthalpy changes.
3. Chemical Engineers use knowledge of heat capacity and specific heats to make sure that processes run safely and efficiently.

See also

• Specific Heat
• Thermal Energy

Further reading

Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes (3rd Edition) By: Richard M. Felder & Ronald M. Rousseau

Encyclopædia Britannica, 2015, "Heat capacity"

References

• http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/Thermodynamics/Calorimetry/Heat_Capacity
• http://www.chm.davidson.edu/vce/calorimetry/heatcapacity.html
• http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/spht.html