heat capacity

American  

noun

Thermodynamics.

1. the heat required to raise the temperature of a substance one degree.

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heat capacity British  

noun

1. the heat required to raise the temperature of a substance by unit temperature interval under specified conditions, usually measured in joules per kelvin. Symbol: C p (for constant pressure) or C v (for constant volume)

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heat capacity Scientific  

1. The ratio of the heat energy absorbed by a substance to its increase in temperature. Heat capacity is also called thermal capacity.

2. ◆ The specific heat or specific heat capacity of a substance is the heat capacity per unit mass, usually measured in joules per kilogram per degree Kelvin.

3. See also latent heat thermodynamics

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heat capacity Cultural  

1. In physics, the capability of a substance to absorb energy in the form of heat for a given increase in temperature. Materials with high heat capacities, such as water, require greater amounts of heat to increase their temperatures than do substances with low heat capacities, such as metals. (See entropy.)

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Etymology

Origin of heat capacity

First recorded in 1900–05

Compare meaning

How does heat-capacity compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• heat capacity vs. specific heat

Example Sentences

Properties such as density, heat capacity, viscosity, and compressibility respond to temperature and pressure in ways that are opposite to what scientists see in typical substances.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

For example, we can swap the bolometer material from metal to graphene, which has a lower heat capacity and can detect very small changes in its energy quickly.

From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2024

They also argued that another key piece of data presented as evidence of superconductivity, the heat capacity of the sample, was a “flawed measurement.”

From Science Magazine • Sep. 27, 2023

The temperature change produced by the known reaction is used to determine the heat capacity of the calorimeter.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

Attempts had been made to do this, but they had signally failed, on account of the small heat capacity of the gas as compared with the containing vessel.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various