Specific heat is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a body per unit of mass. Specific heat is also known as specific heat capacity or mass specific heat.
In SI units, specific heat (symbol: c) is the amount of heat in joules required to raise 1 gram of a substance 1 Kelvin. Usually, specific heat is reported in joules (J).
Examples: Water has a specific heat of 4.18 J. Copper has a specific heat of 0.39 J.
Source
- Halliday, David; Resnick, Robert (2013). Fundamentals of Physics. Wiley. p. 524.