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Specific Heat Capacity

Physics: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 5.2.3

Specific Heat Capacity Experiment

The specific heat capacity of a substance is the amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kg of that substance by 1°C.

Increasing internal energy of the body

Increasing internal energy of the body

  • The heater increases the internal energy of the body and we measure this using a joulemeter.
Measuring the body's temperature

Measuring the body's temperature

  • Measure the temperature of the body (object) at the start and measure the maximum temperature of the body at the end.
Calculating specific heat capacity

Calculating specific heat capacity

  • Specific heat capacity = change  in  internal  energymass  (kg)  ×  maximum  temperature  rise  (oC)\frac{change \;in\; internal\; energy}{mass \;(kg)\; {\times}\; maximum \;temperature\; rise\; (^oC)}

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