Specific Heat Calculator
Specific heat is the price of a temperature rise. Every material charges a different number of joules per kilogram per degree, and that number explains why a beach cools faster than the sea beside it.
Heat energy
502,320
- Energy in kilojoules
- 502.32
- Energy in kilowatt hours
- 0.1395
- Temperature change
- 60
Values update as you type. This calculator covers the single scenario its formula assumes — see Common Mistakes for what it leaves out.
The formula this calculator uses
Q = mass x specific heat x temperature change
- Q
- Heat energy added or removed, in joules
- m
- Mass being heated, in kilograms
- c
- Specific heat capacity of the material, in joules per kilogram per degree
- dT
- Temperature change, end temperature minus start temperature
How to check the result by hand
- 1
Find the mass in kilograms
Convert grams to kilograms first, because specific heat is defined per kilogram. Two kilograms is the default, and using grams here makes the answer a thousand times too large.
- 2
Look up the specific heat
Water is about 4186 joules per kilogram per degree, aluminium about 900 and copper about 385. The value is a property of the material, not of the size of the object.
- 3
Work out the temperature change
Subtract the start temperature from the end temperature. Twenty to eighty degrees is a change of sixty, and the sign only matters if you care whether heat was absorbed or released.
- 4
Multiply the three together
Two kilograms times 4186 times sixty is five hundred and two thousand three hundred and twenty joules.
- 5
Convert to a familiar unit if useful
Divide joules by a thousand for kilojoules, or by three million six hundred thousand for kilowatt hours. The default example is 502.32 kilojoules, or about 0.1395 kilowatt hours.
For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Calculate Specific Heat page.