Specific Heat Capacity of Water

The specific heat capacity is defined as the energy required to raise the temperature of 1kg of a substance by 1°C.Due to the hydrogen bonding between water molecules, more energy is required to raise the temperature of a given mass of water.Water therefore has a high specific heat capacity of 4180 J kg^-1°C^-1.Many organisms live in water. The high specific heat capacity means it can absorb a lot of heat energy without a significant rise in temperature.The large amount of energy needed to break the many hydrogen bonding maintains constant temperatures in cellular environments and allow enzymes and other proteins to function within a narrow temperature range.The latent heat of vaporisation is the energy needed to evaporate 1kg of a substance without a change in temperature.The high latent heat of vaporisation of water means water can act as an effective coolant as in the case with mammals losing body heat by evaporating sweat.