How can I calculate specific heat capacity of water?

Question

Luna Chen · Accepted Answer

The quantity of heat needed to raise a substance's temperature by one degree Celsius per gram is known as specific heat.

#q = m * c * DeltaT#

Water's specific heat can therefore be easily calculated if you know how much heat was added to a given mass of water to raise its temperature by a certain number of degrees.

Let's assume 94.1 kJ were provided to 0.50 L of water to increase its temperature from 20.2 to 65.2 degrees Celsius. Since we know that water has a density of #1.0 "kg/L"#, we can determine its mass by

#m_(water) = rho * V = 1.0 (kg)/(L) * 0.50L = 0.50 kg = 500.0g#

Thus,

#c = q/(m * DeltaT) = (94.1 * 10^3 J)/(500.0g * (65.2-20.2)^@C) = 4.18 J/(g*^@C)#

Usually, problems that ask you to calculate a substance's specific heat will provide such information (heat, #DeltaT#, mass).

Jeremiah Adams · Answer

undefined The specific heat capacity of water can be calculated using the formula:

$$ C = \frac{q}{m \cdot \Delta T} $$

where:
- $ C $ is the specific heat capacity (in J/g°C or J/kg°C),
- $ q $ is the heat energy absorbed or released (in Joules),
- $ m $ is the mass of the water (in grams or kilograms),
- $ \Delta T $ is the change in temperature (in °C).