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.

---

specific heat Scientific  

1. See under heat capacity

---

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).

---

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 • Dec. 17, 2025

“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 • Aug. 28, 2023

Values of specific heat must generally be looked up in tables, because there is no simple way to calculate them.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

We are given that ΔT is 10.0ºC , but we must still find values for the mass of air and its specific heat before we can calculate Q .

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

But this assumption is inconsistent with the caloric theory of latent heat of expansion, which requires the specific heat to be a function of the volume.

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