Heat Energy Required (Q=mcΔT)

About this calculator

This calculator applies Q = mcΔT, the specific heat equation: the heat energy Q needed equals the substance's mass m, times its specific heat capacity c (the energy needed to raise 1 gram or 1 kg by 1°C, a property unique to each material), times the temperature change ΔT. Water's high specific heat (4.186 J/g°C) is why it takes so much more energy to heat than metal, which is exactly what this formula quantifies.

It's used to size water heaters and boilers (how much energy to raise a tank from cold to a target temperature), in cooking and food science to estimate stovetop or oven energy needs, and it's a staple physics and chemistry problem for calculating everything from melting ice to heating a lab sample to a target temperature.