What is the specific heat capacity of a metal?

The specific heat capacity of a metal (or any other substance) is the amount of heat energy required to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of the metal by 1 degree Celsius. This typically is measured in joules per kilogram per degree Celsius.

Depending on the context, either degrees Celsius or Kelvin may be used as the unit of temperature to define the specific heat capacity; however, these are numerically the same as a difference of 1 degree Celsius is the same as a difference of one Kelvin.

The specific heat capacities (measured in Joules per kilogram per degree Celcius) of some common metals are 910 for aluminium, 450 for iron and 490 for carbon steel.