Heat Capacity Calculator

Determine the heat capacity of a body using Omni's heat capacity calculator.

Sensible heat required501.84 kJ2 kg × 4,182 J/(kg·K) × 60 K

Temperature change60 Kthe same number of degrees Celsius — a temperature DIFFERENCE is identical in K and °C, unlike an absolute temperature

Specific heat used4,182 J/(kg·K)Water

In kilowatt-hours0.1394 kWh

In food calories119.9426 kcal

In BTU475.6525

Latent heat of fusion for Water333,550 J/kgmelting 2 kg would take 667.1 kJ at constant temperature

Time at that heater power4.18 minutes250.9 seconds at 2 kW and 100% efficiency

Energy actually drawn501.84 kJ0 J of it wasted

The formula

Q = mcΔT for sensible heat, Q = mL for a phase change

Latent heat hides from the thermometer

Sensible heat changes a temperature and is what mcΔT computes. Latent heat changes a phase at constant temperature, so it does not register on a thermometer at all — which is why a pan of boiling water stays at 100 °C however hard you heat it, and why the water level falls instead.

The magnitudes are strikingly unequal. Heating water from 20 °C to 100 °C takes about 335 kJ per kilogram; boiling it takes 2,256 kJ per kilogram — nearly seven times as much. Melting ice takes 334 kJ/kg, almost exactly the same as heating the resulting water through the full 80 degrees, which is why ice is such an effective coolant.

Water's specific heat of 4,182 J/(kg·K) is anomalously high — several times most metals and about four times air. That single property moderates the planet's climate, makes water the default coolant in almost every engineering context, and is why coastal temperatures swing far less than inland ones.

Note that ΔT is a difference, so it is the same number in kelvin and Celsius. That is the one place in thermodynamics where Celsius is safe to use, and it is worth being deliberate about which kind of temperature a formula wants.