Definition of "specific heat"
Definition of "specific heat"
(OP)
Here's a more serious example of miscommunication on a technical topic.
I heard an expert witness in a major trial asked to define "specific heat".
He answered that specific heat is the relative measure of a body to give off heat.
Now that's not correct, is it? Specific heat is a precisely defined technical term. Perhaps he was trying to dumb it down for a lay audience. Nobody challenged his definition.
I heard an expert witness in a major trial asked to define "specific heat".
He answered that specific heat is the relative measure of a body to give off heat.
Now that's not correct, is it? Specific heat is a precisely defined technical term. Perhaps he was trying to dumb it down for a lay audience. Nobody challenged his definition.
Cheers,
John.





RE: Definition of "specific heat"
Hawkins Mechanical Dictionary - 1909.
RE: Definition of "specific heat"
What's he say about E=mc2 ?
Cheers,
John.
RE: Definition of "specific heat"
That's so fundamental and simple it's surprising. It also matches in an inverse way what the expert witness said. He talked about a body's capacity to give off heat. But that depends on several factors like temperature differnce and thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficients. To me, it's the amount of heat required to raise a unit mass by a unit degree in temperature (expresseda as a ratio compared to H2O).
Cheers,
John.
RE: Definition of "specific heat"
RE: Definition of "specific heat"
RE: Definition of "specific heat"
The old Hawkins dictionaries were not "cutting edge", but rather aimed primarily at tradesmen, so I have no doubt that the fax technology existed before 1909. I've heard about a dedicated one that transmitted financial information between Switzerland and London England around 1900, but haven't actually read anything about it. I'm curious as to just how old the technology is. Anybody know?