Please note, you will need to download the PPT file to allow for the animations that make the slides functional. This mini lesson on specific heat and heat capacity is part of Heat Source Heat Sink lesson from the Museum of Science and Industry related to NGSS performance expectation MS-ESS2-6 connected to uneven heating of earth systems.

1. Specific Heat Mini-Lesson
Great Lakes Rocks
Teacher Education Course
School Year 2016-2017

2. Vocabulary Preview
Temperature
Energy
•Heat
•Internal Energy (thermal
energy)
Heat Transfer Methods
•Conduction
•Convection
•Radiation
Specific Heat Capacity
Units
 Temperature
•Celsius
•Kelvin
•Fahrenheit
 Energy
•Joules
•calories
 Mass
•kilograms

3. http://www.atmo.arizona.edu/students/courselinks/fall06/nats101s2/lecture_notes/sep2905.jpg
When the substance is the same, what is the
relationship between temperature, mass, and total energy?

4. When the substance is the same, what is the
relationship between temperature, mass, and total energy?
One beaker holds twice as
much water by mass as the
other. Each has identical
Bunsen burners providing equal
heat energy flow per second.
Which reaches 100 degrees
Celsius first?
What would could you say about
the thermal energy of each
beaker at the moment when first
one reaches 100 degrees
Celsius?

5. When the substance is the same, what is the
relationship between temperature, mass, and total energy?
One beaker holds twice as
much water by mass as the
other. Each has identical
Bunsen burners providing equal
heat energy flow per second.
How much more energy is
required to get the larger beaker
to 100 C compared to the
energy to do so for the smaller
beaker?

6. When the substances are NOT the same, what is the
relationship between temperature, mass, and total energy?
50 g of Water 50 g of Water 50 g of Water 50 g of Sand
20 C
20 C
80 C
80 C
50 C 30 C

7. When the substances are NOT the same, what is the
relationship between temperature, mass, and total energy?
50 g of Water 50 g of Sand
Liquid water has 5 times the capacity to absorb heat
and produce same temperature change as same mass of sand

8. When the substances are NOT the same, what is the
relationship between temperature, mass, and total energy?
50 g of Water 50 g of Sand
Liquid water has 5 times the capacity to give off heat
and produce same temperature change as same mass of sand

9. Water Sand
Mass
Specific Heat
(J/g·C°)
Heat Capacity
(J/C°)
Specific Heat
(J/g·C°)
Heat Capacity
(J/C°)
10 g 4.2 42 0.84 8.4
20 g 4.2 84 0.84 16.8
50 g 4.2 210 0.84 42
100 g 4.2 420 0.84 84
200 g 4.2 840 0.84 168
The specific heat of water is always ~ 5 times greater than the specific
heat of sand, independent of the mass of the sample, because specific
heat is an intensive property of a substance.
The heat capacity of a sample of water depends on the mass of the
sample, making it an extensive property. A beaker with 20 g of water has
twice the heat capacity of a beaker with 10 g of water (but the water in
each beaker has the same specific heat value). It would take a beaker
with 50 g of sand to have the same heat capacity as 10 g of water.

10. Heat Transfer: Electromagnetic Radiation (~light)
Heat Always Flows
from
Higher Temperature
to
Lower Temperature
(Natural System)
Color is a major
variable (emissivity)
Good absorbers
(dark) are good
emitters.

11. Heat Transfer: Conduction (~direct contact)
Heat Always Flows
from
High Temperature
to
Low Temperature
(Natural System)
Some materials
conduct quickly
(metal) and others
conduct slowly
(wood).

12. Heat Transfer: Convection (~moving fluids)
Heat Always Flows
from
High Temperature
to
Low Temperature
(Natural System)
Changes in density
due to temperature
difference, along
with gravity, cause
natural movement of
liquids and gases
energy gets
“carried along” and
“dropped off”

13. In this case, the pool of water is
a heat sink for the grill

14. In this case, the pool of water is
a heat source for the ice cream