What is specific heat capacity?

Specific heat capacity is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1°C. This concept is crucial in understanding how different materials respond to heat. It indicates how much energy must be supplied to change the temperature of a given mass of material. A substance with a high specific heat capacity can absorb a lot of heat without experiencing a significant increase in temperature, while a substance with a low specific heat capacity heats up quickly with relatively little energy input.

The other options describe different thermodynamic concepts. For instance, vaporization refers to a phase change requiring different energy levels, and total heat content involves broader energy considerations, including latent heat and potential energy, rather than just temperature change. The melting temperature indicates the point at which a solid turns to liquid, which is not directly related to specific heat capacity but rather to a state transition. Hence, the correct definition focuses specifically on the relationship between heat energy and temperature change in a substance.