Question

Does heat capacity change with mass?

Answer 1

It doesn't.

The Specific Heat Capacity is a property of a substance, which reflects how many Joules of energy it takes to raise the temperature of one gram of that substance by one degree (Kelvin or Centigrade). So, specific heat capacities are defined for a known mass of substance.

The amount of energy a substance gains or loses is related to the amount it's temperature changes using the equation `Q = m c DeltaT` where Q is the energy the substance gains, m is the mass of material changing temperature, c is the specific heat capacity of the substance,and `DeltaT` is the change in temperature.

For example, if we heat 100g of water, which has a specific heat capacity of `4.2 Jg^(-1)K^(-1)`, and it's temperature increases from 10 degrees C to 30 degrees C, then the amount energy that has gone into the water is 100 x 4.2 x 20 = 8,400 Joules