ME 231

Thermodynamics-I

Lecture 19

Fall 2019
Energy Storage Capabilities

SPECIFIC HEATS
• Also called the heat capacity
• Energy required to raise the temperature of a unit mass by
one degree
• Units
– kJ/(kg 0C) or kJ/(kg 0K)
– cal/(g 0C) or cal/(g 0K)
– Btu/(lbm 0F) or Btu/(lbm 0F) 2
Specific Heats at Constant Volume and Constant Pressure

cv is a measure of the variation of

internal energy of a substance with
temperature,

cp is a measure of the variation of enthalpy

of a substance with temperature.

• These equations are property relations and are independent of

the type of processes.
• Constant volume and constant pressure are only related to the
measurement of specific heats.
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