heat capacity

heat capacity (plural heat capacities)

1. (physics) The capability of a system to absorb heat energy; the amount of thermal energy required to raise the temperature of a system by one temperature unit without any change of phase.

   500 J introduced to a system caused the temperature of the system to increase by 2 K; thus, the heat capacity is 250 J/K. If the system consists of a single material with a mass of 500 g, the specific heat capacity of that material is 500 J/K/kg.