specific heat capacity

Question 1

what is specific heat capacity?

Answer 1

the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of a substance by 1 degree

Question 2

why do different materials have different specific heat capacities?

Answer 2

because more energy needs to be transferred to the thermal energy stores of some materials to increase their temperature than others

Question 3

how do you work out the change in thermal energy?

Answer 3

mass x specific heat capacity x temperature change

Question 4

how can you investigate specific heat capacity?

Answer 4

using a solid material, insulator, thermometer, heater, ammeter to find out how much power is needed to raise the temperature of a substance to 1 degree

Question 5

example: how much energy is needed to raise the temperature of 2 kg of copper from 0 to 10, if the specific heat capacity is 380J/kg?

Answer 5

2 x 10 x 380 = 7600J