Specific HeatLearning Objective: | Define specific heat and recognize the effect salinity has on the specific heat of seawater. |
In oceanography, specific heat is the number of calories needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of seawater 1°C. The specific heat of seawater decreases slightly as salinity increases.Land heats and cools much more rapidly than seawater, its specific heat being much less than that of seawater. This, in part, accounts for the land having a much greater temperature range than the sea, which results in monsoons and the familiar land and sea breezes of tropical and temperate regions.The ratio of specific heat to seawater at a constant pressure and constant volume has a direct relationship to the speed of sound in water.
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