Heat capacity at constant pressure

ID: heat-capacity-at-constant-pressure

Heat capacity at constant pressure by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For a fixed-composition closed system, the heat capacity at fixed pressure is , with enthalpy . Under the quasistatic process assumptions in heat capacity, only pressure-volume work is permitted, so gives . Thus supplied heat is , or within a single thermodynamic phase when is constant. For an ideal gas, the expansion work explains why this exceeds the required heat at fixed volume for the same temperature increase. Its per-unit-mass counterpart is specific heat capacity at constant pressure.

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