Specific Heat Calculator
Calculate specific heat instantly in your browser — the published formula, worked locally with no data sent anywhere.
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What this tool does
Calculate specific heat instantly in your browser — the published formula, worked locally with no data sent anywhere. Assumes no phase change and no heat lost to the surroundings — during melting or boiling, added heat goes into the latent heat instead of raising temperature, and Q = mcΔT pauses.
How to use the Specific Heat Calculator
- Enter or select solve for.
- Enter or select mass (g).
- Enter or select specific heat c (j/g·°c — water 4.186).
- Enter or select temperature change δt (°c).
- Enter or select heat energy q (j).
- Read the calculated result; change any measurement to compare alternatives.
Formula
calorimetry equation: Q = m × c × ΔT — any one quantity follows from the other three.
- solve
- Solve for
- mass
- Mass (g)
- c
- Specific heat c (J/g·°C — water 4.186)
- dT
- Temperature change ΔT (°C)
- heat
- Heat energy Q (J)
Assumes no phase change and no heat lost to the surroundings — during melting or boiling, added heat goes into the latent heat instead of raising temperature, and Q = mcΔT pauses.
Worked example
For specific heat calculator, the following measurements illustrate the exact method: Solve for: heat; Mass (g): 500; Specific heat c (J/g·°C — water 4.186): 4.186; Temperature change ΔT (°C): 20; Heat energy Q (J): 41860.
Inputs
- Solve forHeat energy (Q)
- Mass (g)500
- Specific heat c (J/g·°C — water 4.186)4.186
- Temperature change ΔT (°C)20
- Heat energy Q (J)41860
Result
- Heat energy (J)41,860
- Heat energy (kJ)41.86
- Heat energy (cal)10,000
Results explained
- Heat energy (J)
- Heat energy (J) from the formula above. Assumes no phase change and no heat lost to the surroundings — during melting or boiling, added heat goes into the latent heat instead of raising temperature, and Q = mcΔT pauses.
- Heat energy (kJ)
- Heat energy (kJ) from the formula above. Assumes no phase change and no heat lost to the surroundings — during melting or boiling, added heat goes into the latent heat instead of raising temperature, and Q = mcΔT pauses.
- Heat energy (cal)
- Heat energy (cal) from the formula above. Assumes no phase change and no heat lost to the surroundings — during melting or boiling, added heat goes into the latent heat instead of raising temperature, and Q = mcΔT pauses.
Frequently asked questions
calorimetry equation: Q = m × c × ΔT — any one quantity follows from the other three.
Assumes no phase change and no heat lost to the surroundings — during melting or boiling, added heat goes into the latent heat instead of raising temperature, and Q = mcΔT pauses.
Every field is labelled with its unit — enter values in exactly the labelled unit and read the result in the labelled output unit. Fields with a unit symbol also support the site-wide imperial/metric switch, which converts before the formula runs.
It uses double-precision arithmetic and the published constants and formulas named on this page. The last displayed digit may be rounded, and real conditions can differ from the idealized model described in the assumptions.
Yes. Every calculation runs entirely in your browser; nothing you enter is uploaded, stored or shared.