Sensible Heat Formula

Sensible heat is heat exchanged by a thermodynamic system that changes the temperature of the system without changing some variables such as volume or pressure. As the name implies, sensible heat is the heat that you can feel. This is written as:

Sensible heat = (mass of the body) * (specific heat capacity) * (change of the temperature)

The equation is

Q= m c ΔT

We have:

Q: Sensible heat

m: Mass of the body

ΔT: Change of the temperature

c: Specific heat coefficient of the material

Sensible heat equation Questions:

1) Some material of 0.5 Kg with a specific heat of 520 J/(Kg K) is subject to a change of temperature of 10 K, what is the sensible heat of this piece of material?

Answer: The sensible heat is given by the equation:

Q= m c ΔT

substituting the value of m, the change in temperature and c,

Q= 0.5 Kg * 250 J/(Kg K) * 10 K = 1250 J

Q= 1250 J

2) A liquid with an specific heat of 140 J/(Kg K) is subject to a change of temperature of 100 K, its Q=1000 J, what is the mass of the liquid?

Answer: The mass is given from the equation od sensible heat:

m = Q/(c ΔT)

Then, substituting the value of change of temperature, c and Q and calculating the mass,

m = 1000 J /(140 J / (Kg K) * 100 K) = 0.07 Kg

m = 7 grams