why does water can absorb or release relatively large quantities of heat without large changes in temperature?
83439
Because water has a high SPECIFIC HEAT VALUE (C=J/gC) which just means that it can absorb a realitivy high ammount of heat (J=jouls) and keep its overall mass (g=grams) about the same temperature (C=celsius)\n\nits like 4.186 J/gC or somin i think, which is very high, while steel is only .113 J/gC
766447
water is able to maintain its temperature well. it retains its temperature better than other substances when the surrounding environment has a different temperature.\n\nfor example, think about the temperature of the ocean's water at the beach. during the day, the sun shines, and both the water and sand absorbs heat. but the water is cooler than the sand. but during the night, it is warmer than the sand because it is able to better retain its heat.\n\nthat might be the reason why make a pool of water in their crops.
662480
The one that heats up faster AND to higher temperatures is soil.\n\nWater can not gain or lose heat as quickly as soil due to latent heat. Water absorbs heat until it reaches the next phase change (vaporization) in which the water changes state.
739180
Warm water is absorbed easier into the body.  Cold water takes longer to absorb, therefore burning more calories.
893761
Using the particle theory of matter, the movement of particles in any matter (i.e. one that has mass and occupies space) increases (i.e. particle speed increases) with its temperature.\n\nWarm water has a higher a temperature than cold water.  Hence, the particles in the warm water move at higher speeds than that in cold water.  Moving at higher speed means having greater kinetic energy.  Thus, easier for the particles to break the inter-molecular forces present among the particles in the liquid to travel into the air.\n\nBy the way, this question should have been placed under the physics field.
21118
You're probably talking about the thermal conductivity of materials, which is defined as the ability of bodies to conduct heat through them. Water is not such a great conductor of heat, which means it will take long for it to conduct heat - either to heat itself up, or give out heat.
113741
This is called evaporative cooling.\nThe water is cooler than your skin and absorbs this excess heat until it reaches evaporation temperature. As the water evaporates it releases this heat into the air which must be cooler than your body for this process to work. This is why sweating helps cool the body. The hotter and more humid the air temperature, the slower the evaporative cooling effect takes place.
399680
As the temperature of a liquid increases the particles have more kinetic energy and can move more freely so an object passing through the liquid will experience less friction.
133407
It's because of evaporation.  Whenever something evaporates, it takes energy away from what it's touching, and the temperature goes down.
200483
A calorimeter works by preforming some reaction (Usualy combustion) in a sealed container which is contained in a larger vessel filled with some liquid of a known specific heat (usually water).  When the reaction is preformed, it can either give off heat or absorbe heat to the surroundings (the water).  By measuring the temperature change in the water, we can calculate the amount of energy absorbed/released by the substance during the chemical reaction.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorimeter\nhttp://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/calor.html
739985
the water is relesed as vapor from the liquid when the liquid is heated. Water changes phase and becomes gas, its called evaporation.
297865
Both water and concrete are insulators, so this cannot be the deciding factor. However, concrete has a specific heat capacity of ~3.3 J/g*K, while water has a specific heat capacity of 4.184 J/g*K, so, for a given addition of energy, a given mass of water will only increase in temperature about 78% as much as that same mass in concrete. Then, there is the fact that the surface of the concrete is all that has to heat up in order for it to feel hot (and indeed, this is all that is really heated much by the sun), while currents generated by heat gradients in liquids (such as water) ensure that the water will not feel as warm as the concrete, even discounting the disparity in specific heat capacity between the two.
419356
I will take a stab at it.  I am guessing it is because water has more degrees of freedom.  In the liquid there is also rotational degrees of freedom to absorb energy that the solid ice does not have.\n\nTo Neil, the formulas are for heat capacity and have nothing to do with the way something is heated, only the amount of energy that it takes.\n\nNor does it have anything to do with Newton's law of cooling.
596165
Given a fixed power of heat input water would take longer due to its specific heat capacity being large.  4180Joules/kg/degree, compared with 450 for iron & 880 for Aluminium (figures STRICTLY only from memory and not to be relied on)\nOther than that are consideration of good conduction of heat in metals versus convection transporting the heat quickly within the water.\nAlso practically speaking, you might need to allow for evaporative heat loss from the water surface.
381272
Would you like to qualify that question with something?\nFor example, what material can absorb heat with the smallest increase in temperature.\n\nHeat is a form of energy.  Temperature is the measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules of a substance.\nAll materials will absorb heat (energy) and their temperature will increase.  How much their temperature increases when a given material absorbs a given amount of heat depends on its specific heat.\nThe specific heat of a material lets up know how much a substance's temperature will increase after abosorbing a given amount of energy.\n\nThe change in temperature of substance experiences can be calculates using the following,\nQ = m*c*(delta T)\nWhere Q is the heat energy, m is the mass of the object, c is the specific heat, and (delta T) is the change in temperature.\n\nA low specific heat means the material will experience a larger increase in temperature (all other things being constant) than a material with a higher specific heat.\n\nThe specific heat of all materials vary.\nAs a general rule, metals tend to have low specific heats and gasses tend to have higher specific heats (there is a reason for this, but it is beyond this answer's scope), but this is not always the case.\n\nWater for example has a pretty high specific heat at about 4.186 J/g degree C (or to simplify, 1 calorie).  By comparison, lead metal has a specific heat of only  1.28 J/g C.\nThis means that the temperature of 1 gram of water will increase by 1 degree C when it absorbs 4.186 Joules of energy.  Likewise, when water cools 1 degree C, it releases 4.186 J of energy.
929239
because hot water has more energy than cold, giving the molecules more energy to move(melt)faster\n\n (i am trying to get to level 2 best answerer would help)
1003847
The study of heat and how it behaves.