Editing Heat capacity (section)

{{Short description|Physical property describing the energy required to change a material's temperature}}
{{Thermodynamics|cTopic='''[[Material properties (thermodynamics)|Material properties]]'''}}

'''Heat capacity''' or '''thermal capacity''' is a [[physical quantity|physical property]] of [[matter]], defined as the amount of [[heat]] to be supplied to an object to produce a unit change in its [[temperature]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=David|last1=Halliday| author1-link =David Halliday (physicist)|first2=Robert|last2=Resnick| author2-link =Robert Resnick |title=Fundamentals of Physics|date=2013|publisher=Wiley|page=524|title-link=Fundamentals of Physics}}</ref> The [[International System of Units|SI unit]] of heat capacity is [[joule]] per [[kelvin]] (J/K).

Heat capacity is an [[extensive property]]. The corresponding [[intensive property]] is the [[specific heat capacity]], found by dividing the heat capacity of an object by its mass. Dividing the heat capacity by the amount of substance in [[Mole (unit)|moles]] yields its [[molar heat capacity]]. The [[volumetric heat capacity]] measures the heat capacity per [[volume]].  In [[architecture]] and [[civil engineering]], the heat capacity of a building is often referred to as its ''[[thermal mass]]''.