specific heat

See synonyms for specific heat on Thesaurus.com
nounPhysics.
  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.

Origin of specific heat

1
First recorded in 1825–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use specific heat in a sentence

Scientific definitions for specific heat

specific heat

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for specific heat

specific heat

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).

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.