The specific heat (symbol c), it is appropriate to call specific heat capacity is determined by the amount of energy to be provided by heat exchange to raise a degree of the temperature of the unit of mass of a substance.
The unit of the international system is therefore the joule per kilogram kelvin, J · kg−1 · K−1. The determination of the thermal capacity values of substances is a matter of calorimetry.
Notes: we also define molar thermal capacities (values related to the unit of matter, i.e. 1 mole; it is necessary to distinguish the capacities at constant volume and the capacities at constant pressure (the difference being particularly important for gases).
In other words, specific heat capacity is the amount of heat that one gram of a substance must absorb for its temperature to rise by one degree Celsius. It can also be the amount of heat that one gram of this substance has to lose in order for its temperature to drop by one degree Celsius.
The table below gives a list of the specific heat capacity of various elements, this measured under standard conditions, that is to say at 25 ° C and 101.3 kPa.
| Name | Specific heat capacity (J / g ° C) |
Name | Specific heat capacity (J / g ° C) |
| Aluminium | 0,897 | Krypton | 0,248 |
| Silver | 0,235 | Magnesium | 1,023 |
| Argon | 0,520 | Manganese | 0,479 |
| Nitrogen | 1,040 | Mercury | 0,140 |
| Beryllium | 1,825 | Neon | 1,030 |
| Boron | 1,026 | Nickel | 0,444 |
| Carbon (graphite) | 0,709 | Octosulfur | 0,710 |
| Dibroma | 0,474 | Gold | 0,129 |
| Chlorine | 0,479 | Platinum | 0,133 |
| Difluor | 0,824 | Lead | 0,129 |
| Dihydrogen | 14,304 | Radon | 0,094 |
| Iodine | 0,214 | Scandium | 0,568 |
| Dioxygen | 0,918 | Selenium | 0,321 |
| Chromium | 0,449 | Silicon | 0,705 |
| Cobalt | 0,421 | Tetraphosphorus | 0,769 |
| Copper | 0,385 | Titanium | 0,523 |
| Tin | 0,228 | Tungsten | 0,132 |
| Iron | 0,449 | Uranium | 0,116 |
| Gallium | 0,371 | Vanadium | 0,489 |
| Germanium | 0,320 | Xenon | 0,158 |
| Helium | 5,193 | Zinc | 0,388 |
The table below gives a list of the specific heat capacity of various liquid substances, this measured under standard conditions, i.e. at 25 ° C and 101.3 kPa.
| Name | Specific heat capacity (J / g ° C) |
Name | Specific heat capacity (J / g ° C) |
| Antifreeze | 2,20 | Hexane | 2,27 |
| Water | 4,19 | Oil | 1,29 |
| Ethanol | 2,50 | Mercury | 0,139 |
| Ether | 2,20 | Octane | 0,140 |