Question

What do you mean by the following statements:

(i) the heat capacity of a body is 50 J $K^{-1}$?

(ii) the specific heat capacity of copper is 0.4J $g^{-1}{K}^{-1}$?

Answer 1

1. The heat capacity of a body is 50JK^-1. This means that to increase the temperature of this body by 1 K we have to supply 50 J of energy.
2. The specific heat capacity of copper is 0.4Jg^-1K^-1. This means that to increase the temperature of one gram of copper by 1 K, we have to supply 0.4 J of energy.