Why does water have a high specific heat capacity?

Answer 1

Water has a high specific heat because of the hydrogen bonds acting on the molecules. These hygrogen bonds can "store" thermal energy, and this allows water to absorb or release a lot of heat without a large change in temperature.

Answer 2

Water has a high specific heat.

Water can absorb or release a large quantity of heat energy with little change in temperature because its specific heat is so high. In fact, compared to other common materials, water has a very high specific heat capacity.

Answer 3

Water has a high specific heat capacity because it is a relatively light molecule (18 grams per mole). The specific heats of molecules are all about the same on a per-molecule basis, especially at higher temperatures. This is called the law of Dulong and Petit. At low temperatures, it gets more complicated because the vibrations of molecules are quantized.

When specific heats are measured on a per-gram basis, lighter molecules have higher specific heats. For example, the specific heat of hydrogen (H2), which has a molecular weight of 2 grams per mole, is much higher than that of water. Liquid water has a higher specific heat than most other liquids (such as alcohols) because its molecules are lighter.

Answer 4

With a specific heat of 1 calorie/gram, water has the highest specific heat of any common substance; ammonia is an example of a substance that has a specific heat that is slightly higher than that of water.

Answer 5

I believe you mean does air have a higher heat capacity than water, maybe? If so, no, water has the higher heat capacity. Water is a very slow to heat substance, this is why after winter, water is still really cold while the air may be even 30C. This property of water helps our planet keep moderate temperatures.

Answer 6

The high specific heat of water is due to the polarity of the water molecules. The partially negative oxygen atom of one water molecule is attracted to the partially positive hydrogen atom of another water molecule. This attraction is called a hydrogen bond. Specific heat is the amount of heat required to change a unit mass of a substance by one degree in temperature. Temperature is a measure of the speed at which particles are moving. The higher the temperature, the greater the speed. In order to increase the temperature of water, hydrogen bonds must be broken. So some of the heat energy used to increase temperature is used to break hydrogen bonds, so water requires a greater amount of energy to increase its temperature.

Answer 7

The specific heat is the quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a material 10C. Water is VERY high compared to most common materials.

Answer 8

Yes--it can absorb much more heat than most other molecules. This explains why a metal pot will become hot faster than the water inside of it.

Answer 9

Water has a high specific heat capacity due to the large number of hydrogen bonds that form between water (H2O) molecules.

Answer 10

Yes, all substances have a specific heat.