Question

Explain at the molecular level why water has a high specific heat. Be sure to define specific heat in your answer.

Answer 1

Water has a high specific heat capacity due to hydrogen bonding among water molecules. It helps regulate temperature and maintain homeostasis.

Step-by-step explanation:

Water has a high specific heat capacity because of its hydrogen bonding among water molecules. Specific heat is defined as the amount of heat one gram of a substance must absorb or lose to change its temperature by one degree Celsius. Water's specific heat capacity is about five times more than that of sand. This property allows water to regulate temperature and maintain homeostasis in organisms. Furthermore, water also has a high heat of vaporization, which requires a considerable amount of heat energy to change it from a liquid to a gas.

Answer 2

Specific heat is the amount of heat required to raise one Celsius degree of the temperature of one gram of a sustance. Water has a high specific heat because the of the multiple hydrogen bonds between water molecules. The heat breakes those hydrogen bonds, but as there are multiple bonds it takes a lot of energy to separate those molecules and make them move faster, raising the temperature of water.