The amount of heat energy transferred, or the number of BTU's required to raise 1 Ib. of a given substance 1 F is?

• A. Latent Heat
• B. Specific Heat
• C. Sensible Heat
• D. Thermal Conductivity

Answer: (B)

The key idea is specific heat—that property tells you how much energy is needed to raise the temperature of a certain mass by a certain amount. For 1 pound of any substance raised by 1 degree Fahrenheit, the energy required equals its specific heat value, measured in BTU per pound per degree Fahrenheit. So the amount of heat needed to push 1 lb up by 1°F is essentially the substance’s specific heat. For example, water has a specific heat close to 1 BTU/(lb·°F), which means roughly 1 BTU is needed to raise 1 lb of water by 1°F. Latent heat, by contrast, involves energy during phase changes with no temperature change, and thermal conductivity describes how quickly heat moves through a material rather than how much energy is needed to raise its temperature. Sensible heat refers to heat that changes temperature, but the specific quantity described in the question is the specific heat itself.