9.

3 (a) Specific Heat Capacity

The device which is used to investigate the specific heat capacity is called
calorimeter.

A calorimeter also contains both a thermometer to measure the initial and final
temperatures of substances at thermal equilibrium and a stirrer to ensure the
uniform mixture of energy throughout the water.

Different materials have different capacity of absorbing heat energy. One

kilogram of water absorbs more heat energy as compared to one kilogram of
sand to raise the temperature by1°C. Specific heat capacity is defined as

The amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of a

substance by 10C is known as specific heat capacity.

Mathematical Equation

If ‘ Q ’ is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of mass "m” of

the substance through ‘ T ’ which is change in temperature in Kelvin.

Q  m . . . . (1)
It means the amount of energy absorbed by a body is directly proportional to
the mass of the body.
Q  T . . . (2)

In second factor, the amount of energy absorbed by a body is directly

proportional to the change in temperature of the body.
Combining factor (1) and (2), we get:

Q  mT

Q  mcT

Where, c is the constant called specific heat of substance and depends upon
the material from which the object is made. Mathematically it can be written
as

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SAT-2 Physics/IB Diploma © Raza Kayani 2015-2021
 Q
c
mT

Where, Q is the heat energy added (or removed) or it is the total energy
gained (or lost) by an object, m is the mass of the substance you are heating
(or cooling) and ∆T is the change in temperature.

The specific heat capacity of a material may also be defined as under

It is the amount of energy needed to change the temperature of 1

kilogram of the material by 1 Kelvin.

Unit of Specific Heat Capacity

Unit of specific heat is Joules per kilogram Kelvin (J/kg 0C) or (Jkg-1K-1) in
SI system.

substance specific heat substance specific heat substance specific heat

aluminum 900 J/kg K copper 390 J/kg K iron 450 J/kg K
silver 230 J/kg K ice 2060 J/kg K steam 2020 J/kg K
zinc 388 J/kg K lead 128 J/kg K water 4200J/kg K

The specific heat capacity of water is 4200J/kg  C, which means 4200J of

energy is needed to raise the temperature of 1Kg of water by 1  C.

Specific Heat Capacity & Temperature

Experiments show that specific heat of a particular material varies with

temperature because numbers of molecules per unit mass changes from
material to material.

Measuring Specific Heat Capacity

As we know that specific heat capacity is given by,

Q
c
mT

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In order to measure specific heat capacity the following quantities have to be
measured the mass (m) in kilograms the change in temperature (T) in
Kelvin and the energy supplied Q in joules.

Law of Heat Exchange

When two objects at different temperatures are mixed together or brought in

thermal contact, heat flows from higher to lower temperature. Both objects
exchange their heat energy until they reach an equal temperature.

If a hot piece of metal of mass m1 is put in water of mass m2 which is at

room temperature, the hot piece of metal will lose some of its heat energy to
the water until they both reach the same temperature, T.

If no heat energy is lost to or absorbed from the surroundings, according to

law of heat exchange

Heat lost by metal = Heat gained by water

Worked Example 1:
A piece of brass of mass 0.5 kg is heated to 1000 C and then placed into a 0.8
kg of water at 200 C. If the final temperature of the mixture is 40 0C,
calculate the specific heat capacity of brass. Take specific heat capacity of
water is 4200 J/kg 0C.

Answer
The hot piece of brass of m1, c1, T1 is put in water at room temperature of m2,
c2, T2.
Brass water
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SAT-2 Physics/IB Diploma © Raza Kayani 2015-2021
Mass m1= 0. 5kg Mass m2= 0.8 kg
Initial temp T1 = 1000 C Initial temp T1=200 C
Final temp T2 = 400 C Final temp T2=400 C
∆T = T2 -T1 = 100 - 400 =600 C ∆T = T2 -T1 = 40 - 200 =200 C
SHC of brass c1=? SHC of water c2=4200 J/kg 0C

According to law of heat exchange

Heat lost by brass = Heat gained by water

m1c1 ∆T = m2c2 ∆T

0. 5kg x c1 x 600 C = 0.8 kg x 4200 J/kg0C x 200 C

c1 =2242 J/kg0C
Worked Example 2:

A piece of metal of mass 0.2 kg is heated to 1000 C and then placed into a
copper calorimeter of mass 0.2 kg containing 0.3 kg of water at 200 C . If the
final temperature of the mixture is 25 0C, calculate the specific heat capacity
of the metal. Take specific heat capacity of water is 4200 J/kg 0C and SHC
of copper is 390 J/kg 0C.
Answer
Metal Water calorimeter
Mass m1= 0. 2kg Mass m2= 0.3 kg Mass m3= 0.2 kg
0 0
Initial temp T1 = 100 C Initial temp T1=20 C Initial temp T1=200 C
Final temp T2 = 250 C Final temp T2=250 C Final temp T2=250 C
∆T1 = T2 -T1 ∆T2 = T2 -T1 ∆T3 = T2 -T1
0 0 0 0
= 100 - 25 =75 C = 25 - 20 =5 C = 25 - 200 =50 C
SHC of metal c1=? SHC of water c2=4200 SHC of calorimeter
0
J/kg C c3=390 J/kg 0C

According to law of heat exchange

Heat lost by metal = Heat gained by water + Heat gained by calorimeter

m1c1 ∆T1 = m2c2 ∆T2 + m3c3 ∆T3

0. 2 x c1 x 750 C = 0.3 kg x 4200 J/kg0C x 50 C +0.2 kg x 390 J/kg0C x 50 C

c1 = 446 J/kg0C

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SAT-2 Physics/IB Diploma © Raza Kayani 2015-2021