110: Specific Heat Theory / Background Although heat has the same units as energy, it is not another form of energy. Instead, it is a mechanism by which internal energy is transferred between bodies which are different temperatures. How much comprised. the temperature of a body changes dues to transfer of heat depends n the material of which the body is The relationship between the heat (Q) added or removed from a mass with temperature change (AT) is given as Q = mcAT [1] where m= the mass of the object, and c= the specific heat of the material. Note that although "specific heat" and "specific heat capacity are often used interchangeably, they are actually not the same in all academic circles. For this lab, we are differentiating. c is the specific heat and not the specific heat capacity, which refers to the total amount of energy the object can absorb to raise the temperature. Specific heat capacity is specific for a set amount of mass, whereas specific heat does not depend on the mass. Specific heat of a substance is the amount of energy which needs to be add to 1 unit of mass of the substance in order to raise its temperature 1 unit of temperature. For example, the specific heat of water is ~4.179-, v g.of, which means that if 4.179 Jof energy are put into 1 g of water, the temperature will rise 1c. Other units of energy often used when referring to heat are calories (cal) and kilocalories (kcal). See Table 1 for a list of particular specific heats. (Note that Brass and Steel are alloys. Therefore, the specific heats depend on the exact composition them. Material Specific Heat (cal) Al 0.215 Cu 0.093 Fe 0.107 Brass -0.092 Steel ~0.112 H20 1.000 Table 1: Specific Heat Since temperature is related to energy flow and energy should be conserved, if we put together two objects of different temperatures, then the heat flow into one should equal the heat flow out of the other. Mathematically, this is expressed as 21 = -Q2 [2] where the negative sign indicates the flows of heat are in opposite directions