how do you calculate specific heat capacity? if you can work an example that would be great!

What is specific heat capacity? What are the units? That should tell you something.

it should tell me that i dont understand the concept of specific heat capacity hence i'm on the internet like a lost soul looking for help

joule is a unit of energy

gram is a unit of mass

°C and K are units of temperature

Certain things need to absorb more or less heat to have an equal temperature change.

Specific heat capacity is the joules per gram required to raise the temperature by 1°C.

"Per gram" because the amount of substance matters (e.g. twice as much substance means twice as much heat for the same
ΔT).

Edited June 10, 201312 yr by Mondays Assignment: Die

it should tell me that i dont understand the concept of specific heat capacity hence i'm on the internet like a lost soul looking for help

 

You don't even know (or can't find) the units?

 

As MA:D posted, it's the energy required to raise the temperature a certain amount, per unit mass if it's specific heat capacity. Not all substances require the same energy, because they have internal degrees of freedom, i.e. vibrations and rotations of parts of the molecule. Ideal gases don't have these ways of storing energy. The complexity and composition of the molecule will affect the heat capacity.

ΔT

is used to represent the temperature difference in kelvin (for heat capacity c = energy change divided by temperature difference in kelvin.) can the formula use degrees celsius or do you HAVE to convert to kelvin?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_of_units_of_temperature

 

Will ΔT_K = ΔT_°C always be true?

 

Hint: It wouldn't work for farenheit. ΔT_°F = ΔT_K × 1.8

 

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Am I using subscript right?

Edited June 11, 201312 yr by Mondays Assignment: Die

ΔT

is used to represent the temperature difference in kelvin (for heat capacity c = energy change divided by temperature difference in kelvin.) can the formula use degrees celsius or do you HAVE to convert to kelvin?

 

That's something you should be able to show. Write down the equation for ΔT in ºC and then convert ºC to Kelvin and see what the answer is.

oops! i get what you're saying.