Specific Heat Capacity Calculator
Enter the heat energy added, the mass, and the temperature change to get the specific heat capacity in J/(kg·K) — and see why water resists temperature change so strongly.
One value, three inputs
Enter the heat energy in joules, the mass in kilograms, and the temperature change in kelvin, and the calculator returns the specific heat capacity in J/(kg·K).
Use SI units
Joules for energy, kilograms for mass, and kelvin for the temperature change give a specific heat in J/(kg·K). A change of 1 K equals a change of 1 °C.
What is specific heat capacity?
Energy per kilogram per degree
This specific heat calculator finds how much heat energy a material stores for each degree of temperature change. Specific heat capacity is the energy in joules needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of a substance by one kelvin. It is what makes water slow to heat and slow to cool, why metal pans warm up almost instantly, and how engineers size heaters and coolers. Enter the heat added, the mass, and the temperature change, and the calculator returns the value in joules per kilogram per kelvin.
Divide the heat energy by the mass times the temperature change to get the specific heat capacity in J/(kg·K).
The specific heat capacity is the heat energy added divided by the mass multiplied by the temperature change.
c = Q ÷ (m × ΔT)Here Q is the heat energy in joules, m is the mass in kilograms, and ΔT is the temperature change in kelvin. The result is the energy each kilogram needs per degree. A high value means the material soaks up a lot of heat for a small temperature rise; a low value means it heats up quickly. Water sits near 4184 J/(kg·K), while metals like aluminium (about 900) and copper (about 385) are far lower.
Suppose you add 4184 J of heat to 1 kg of water and its temperature rises by 1 K.
Multiply mass by temperature change
1 × 1 = 1 — the denominator, mass times the temperature change.
Divide the heat energy by that product
4184 ÷ 1 = 4184 — the heat energy spread over the mass and the degree.
Read the specific heat
c = 4184 J/(kg·K) — the specific heat capacity of water, one of the highest of any common substance.
The formula is exact, but a few practical points are worth keeping in mind.
Constant heat capacity and consistent units
This calculator assumes the specific heat stays constant over the temperature range and that no phase change (melting or boiling) happens, where the value shifts or heat goes into the change of state instead of temperature. Keep your units consistent — joules, kilograms, and kelvin — or the result will be wrong. A temperature change in kelvin equals the same change in degrees Celsius, so you can enter either, but never a change in degrees Fahrenheit.