Define specific heat capacity. Prove experimentally that different substances have different specific heat capacities.

Explanation

The amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of an object by `1^@C` is called the specific heat or specific heat capacity of that object.
Experimental verification:
i. Solid spheres of iron, copper and lead of equal mass are taken and placed into boiling water in the beaker till they attain temperature of 100 °C.
ii. These spheres are then immediately placed on the thick slab of wax simultaneously.

iii. It is observed that each of the spheres reaches different depth in the wax slab. Iron sphere goes deepest followed by copper and then lead sphere.
iv. The sphere that absorbs more heat from water supplies more heat to wax causing more melting of wax and going deeper in wax
v. This proves that for equal rise in temperature, the three spheres have absorbed different amounts of heat and possess different specific heat capacities.