What is the difference between heat capacity and specific heat?

1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
Nov 5, 2015

Heat capacity (HC) is an extensive property, but specific heat capacity (SHC) is an intensive property.

An intensive property does NOT depend on the amount of matter present (mass, volume, etc), but an extensive property does.

The units of the HC are #"J/"^"o" "C"# or #"J/K"#, while the units of the SHC are #"J/g"^"o" "C"# or #"J/g"cdot"K"#, where:

  • #"J" = "kg"*"m"^2"/s"^2#
  • #"C"# is #"Celsius"#
  • #"K"# is #"Kelvin"# (#"Kelvin = Celsius + 273.15"#)

(It may seem counterintuitive that SHC is an intensive property, but it is specific to the particular material, and regardless of having more or less material, it does not change the SHC. The HC, without a mass unit involved, is therefore extensive.)

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