Why is heat capacity different for different materials?

1 Answer
Dr. Hayek
Sep 25, 2015

Because #1g# of one substance does not contain the same number of atoms in another substance.

Explanation:

Specific heat capacity by definition is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of #1g# of a substance by one degree.

Raising the temperature of a substance means changing the average kinetic energy of its particles.

Since all substances are made from different particles (atoms) that have different masses, therefore, #1g# of one substance will not contain the same number of particles in #1g# of another substance.

For example, the molar mass of copper is 63.55 g/mol and the molar mass of sulfur is 32.07 g/mol, therefore, in #1g# of sulfur there will be twice as many atoms as in #1g# of copper, and therefore, the specific heat capacity of sulfur will be higher (#0.73 J/(g.""^@C#) than the specific heat capacity of copper (#0.385 J/(g.""^@C#).

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