Pro/Forums - View Single Post - My WB: EK-MCW

Cathar · 03-15-2005, 08:31 PM

Actually, by volume, copper has a heat capacity not that far removed from water.

Water has a specific heat capacity of 4186J/kgC, while for copper it's around 385J/kgC, but copper has a density of 8.9.

So per 1cm³ of each item, water sits at 4.186 J/C, while copper is actually at a pretty healthy 3.427 J/C.

None of this really matters when we're talking about conduction and convection of course, but I just wanted to highlight the point, that given two equal volumed bodies of copper and water, the copper holds about 82% of the heat capacity of water, and really is right up there in terms of offering one of the higher volumetric based heat capacities of most any material you care to name, mostly due to its very high density.

03-15-2005, 08:31 PM	#49
Cathar Thermophile Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,538	Actually, by volume, copper has a heat capacity not that far removed from water. Water has a specific heat capacity of 4186J/kgC, while for copper it's around 385J/kgC, but copper has a density of 8.9. So per 1cm³ of each item, water sits at 4.186 J/C, while copper is actually at a pretty healthy 3.427 J/C. None of this really matters when we're talking about conduction and convection of course, but I just wanted to highlight the point, that given two equal volumed bodies of copper and water, the copper holds about 82% of the heat capacity of water, and really is right up there in terms of offering one of the higher volumetric based heat capacities of most any material you care to name, mostly due to its very high density.