Specific Heat of Carbon Steel
| Value | 486 J/(kg·K) |
| Status | Measured: ± 20 J/(kg·K) (0.041 relative) |
| Source | ASM Handbook, Vol. 1 / Eurocode 3 Part 1-2 |
| Categories | Material PropertiesEngineering & Tradethermodynamics |
| joule per kilogram-kelvin | 486 J/(kg·K) |
| kilojoule per kilogram-kelvin | 0.486 kJ/(kg·K) |
| calorie per gram-Celsius | 0.11615679 cal/(g·°C) |
| BTU per pound-Fahrenheit | 0.11607911 BTU/(lb·°F) |
Learning zone
Metals have low specific heat per unit mass — steel is under one eighth of water's — but high density, so per unit volume steel stores about 3.8 MJ/(m³·K) against water's 4.2. That is why a steel boiler shell or a heavy machine frame takes real energy to warm up, and why warm-up allowances matter on start-up loads.
The number is only stable over a modest range. Steel's specific heat climbs steadily with temperature and spikes dramatically near 730 °C, where the ferrite-to-austenite transformation absorbs latent heat — apparent values there exceed 1500 J/(kg·K). Fire-resistance and heat-treatment calculations use temperature-dependent curves (Eurocode 3 publishes one) rather than a single figure. Take 486 J/(kg·K) as room-temperature carbon steel; stainless is similar at about 500, and aluminium is nearly double at 897 J/(kg·K).