Which of the following statements about specific heat of a body is/are

Which of the following statements about specific heat of a body is/are correct ?

  • 1. It depends upon mass and shape of the body
  • 2. It is independent of mass and shape of the body
  • 3. It depends only upon the temperature of the body

Select the correct answer using the code given below :

1 only
2 and 3
1 and 3
2 only
This question was previously asked in
UPSC NDA-1 – 2018
The correct answer is (D) 2 only. Specific heat capacity is an intrinsic property of the material itself. It is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a substance by one degree Celsius (or Kelvin). Therefore, it is independent of the mass and the shape of the *specific body* made from that substance. While specific heat capacity can vary slightly with temperature and pressure for a given substance, statement 3 claiming it depends *only* upon the temperature is inaccurate, as the fundamental material composition is the primary determinant. Statement 1 is definitively incorrect. Statement 2 correctly states that it is independent of mass and shape of the body.
Specific heat capacity is an intensive property of a substance, meaning it does not depend on the amount (mass) or form (shape) of the substance.
Heat capacity (C), in contrast to specific heat capacity (c), *does* depend on the mass of the body (C = mc). Specific heat capacity is a fundamental property used to compare how different substances store thermal energy. For example, water has a high specific heat capacity compared to metals.
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