The heat capacity C of a substance is the amount of heat required to change its temperature by one degree, and has units of energy per degree. The heat capacity is therefore an extensive variable since a large quantity of matter will have a proportionally large heat capacity. A more useful quantity is the specific heat (also called specific heat capacity), which is the amount of heat required to change the temperature of one unit of mass of a substance by one degree. Specific heat is therefore an intensive variable and has units of energy per mass per degree.
Heat, Heat Capacity Ratio, Internal Energy, Latent Heat of Fusion, Latent Heat of Vaporization, Specific Heat, Universal Gas Constant
References
Sears, F. W. and Salinger, G. Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, and Statistical Thermodynamics, 3rd ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1975.
