specific heat

American  

noun

Physics.

1. the number of calories required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance 1°C, or the number of BTU's per pound per degree F.

2. (originally) the ratio of the thermal capacity of a substance to that of standard material.

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specific heat Scientific  

1. See under heat capacity

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specific heat Cultural  

1. The amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree Celsius, or to raise the temperature of one pound of a substance by one degree Fahrenheit (see also Fahrenheit).

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Etymology

Origin of specific heat

First recorded in 1825–35

Compare meaning

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

• heat capacity vs. specific heat

Example Sentences

Additional evidence came from specific heat measurements, which supported the idea that these predicted emergent photons follow a dispersion resembling the way sound moves through a solid.

From Science Daily

“Without a specific heat standard, it makes it more challenging for regulators to decide, ‘OK, this employer’s breaking the law or not.’”

From Washington Times

The panel finds that these specific heat events, as well as others, would have been “extremely unlikely to occur without human influence on the climate system.”

From Washington Post

They have a high “specific heat capacity” — it takes a lot of energy to raise their temperatures by just a degree.

From Washington Post

Rapid attribution analysis attempts to answer two questions about a specific heat event: how much worse, and how much more likely, did climate change make it?

From New York Times