Question

How specific heat capacity is measured?

Answer 1

Specific heat capacity is also simply known by the name of specific heat which is defined as the amount of heat required by a substance to raise its temperature from one point to another point.

Complete answer:
To calculate the specific heat capacity of any substance we have to follow the below equation:
${\text{Specific Heat Capacity = }}\dfrac{{{\text{Heat Energy}}}}{{{{Mass of substance \times Change in temperature}}}}$
According to the above equation specific heat capacity is defined as the amount of energy required to increase the temperature by one degree Celsius of one gram of substance.
For the calculation of the value of specific heat capacity of any substance we have to know about the value of:
-Given amount of heat to substance.
-Mass of given substance.
-And change in the temperature of a given substance after providing heat energy.
For example: Let we heat 5 ${\text{mL}}$(or grams) of water 10 degree Celsius by supplying 200 joules of heat energy then for calculating the value of specific heat capacity we follow the following process:
Specific Heat Capacity = $\dfrac{{{\text{200}}}}{{{{5 \times 10}}}}{\text{ = 40J/g}}{}^{\text{0}}{\text{C}}$
It means 40 joules of heat energy is required by one gram of water to raise its temperature one degree Celsius.

Note:
Here some of you may do wrong calculation during calculating the value of specific heat capacity because sometimes quantities are present in different units like joules and calories. So always keep in mind that whenever calorie is given, always convert it into joule by using the relation ${\text{1Calorie = 4}}{\text{.2Joule}}$.