Question

The heat energy required to raise the temperature of _______ of a substance through _______ is called a specific heat capacity.
A. water,10 \[{}^\circ \]C
B. hot,10 \[{}^\circ \]C
C. One gram,1 \[{}^\circ \]C
D. none of these.

Answer 1

Hint: To answer this question, we must know the general definition of specific heat capacity and also its units. We will be using the formula for heat energy to calculate the specific heat capacity of the substance. The units of specific heat capacity can be derived from the given formula. The units of specific heat capacity is kJ/kgK.

Formula used:
 \[Q=m{{C}_{p}}\Delta T\]

Complete step by step answer:
Specific Heat capacity of a substance is the amount of heat which is required to raise the temperature of 1g of the same substance by 1\[{}^\circ \]C. Which means that if the temperature of 1g water is to be raised by 1\[{}^\circ \]C, the heat required for this will be known as Specific Heat Capacity of water. As given in the above formula, Specific heat Capacity is denoted by C\[p\].
Q = heat energy,
m = mass of substance,
\[\Delta T\]= change in the temperature
Therefore, the correct answer is option C.

Additional Information:
The specific heat capacity of water is 4200 J/kg\[{}^\circ \]C , also one calorie which is 4.18 J/g\[{}^\circ \]C. The Si and CGS units of mass should always be considered. Appropriate conversions should always be done.

Note:
This example can be solved by the method of eliminating options. Among the options, Option B does not make sense when applied in the given sentence. Similarly, option A is not well related to the blanks. Raising the temperature of water will give specific heat of water and not any other substance. At last, option C can be chosen based on the units of specific heat.