Sensible heating changes temperature without changing phase.
Difficulty
Beginner
Read time
5 min
Prerequisites
Basic algebra and consistent SI units
Source
OpenStax, College Physics 2e, §14.2 (Paul Peter Urone and Roger Hinrichs)Textbook reference retained from the OpenFormulaGraph dataset; adaptation credits and license are provided below.
Adapted from OpenFormulaGraph, under CC BY 4.0.
FormuLab adapted the notation, explanations, assumptions, and topic placement, and expanded the numerical check into a worked example. The textbook section link was corrected.
Sensible heating changes temperature without changing phase. The heat transfer depends on mass, specific heat, and temperature change. Cooling gives negative Q when heat into the substance is defined as positive.
| Symbol | Meaning | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Heat transferred into the substance | ||
| Mass | ||
| Specific heat capacity | ||
| Final minus initial temperature |
Estimate heat needed for a temperature rise.
Compare heat gained and lost by different bodies.
Heat 2.00 kg of water by 10.0 K without a phase change. Taking c = 4186 J/(kg·K), find the heat delivered to the water.
Textbook reference retained from the OpenFormulaGraph dataset; adaptation credits and license are provided below.
Adapted from OpenFormulaGraph, under CC BY 4.0.
FormuLab adapted the notation, explanations, assumptions, and topic placement, and expanded the numerical check into a worked example. The textbook section link was corrected.
Assumptions
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