Re: [Phys-L] Temperature for the calorie?

[rjensen@ualberta.ca]

The 'calorie' is defined at many temperatures.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie

The thermodynamic calorie is 4.184 J/(g K)

Because of its definition, the calorie is also the heat capacity of
water.  The average from 0 to 100 °C is 4.190 J/(g K)

Note: I prefer units of Kelvin. If you ask students why celsius here
but not in other thermodynamic calculations, many don't know why. It
is because it is a temperature *change*. 

 Dr. Roy Jensen
(==========)-----------------------------------------¤
 Lecturer, Chemistry
 W5-19, University of Alberta
 780.248.1808



On Wed, 27 Jan 2016 20:26:38 -0500, you wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Today I was asked about the calorie.  Yes, we did the typical definition:
> the amount of energy needed to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius.
>
> A student, a Chemistry major, raised her hand and asked "At what
> temperature?"  She wanted to know was it at STP and then raised 1 degree,
> or was it at 20 or 25 C...?  It seemed a reasonable thing to ask, but I
> have no idea.  A search of the hard-copy literature on my shelves gives me
> nothing.  A Google search isn't much help either.
>
> Does anyone know?
>
> Peter Schoch
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