Key learning points

1. Different hot metals, of the same mass and starting temperature, heat a fixed amount of water by different amounts.
2. The energy a material has because its particles are moving with forces between them can be labelled internal energy.
3. The larger the specific heat capacity of a material, the more energy transferred to increase its temperature by 1ºC.
4. The larger the specific heat capacity of a material, the more heating it does as its temperature falls by 1ºC.

Keywords

• Temperature - a measure of how hot a substance is; it is related to the kinetic energy of the individual particles

• Specific heat capacity - the change in internal energy when the temperature of 1 kg of the material changes by 1°C

• Internal energy - the sum of the kinetic energy and potential energy of the particles something is made of

• Kinetic energy - the energy an object has because of it's motion

• Potential energy - the energy an object has because of its position and the forces acting on it

Common misconception