What does the lowercase 'c' represent in the context of specific heat?

The lowercase 'c' in the context of specific heat represents specific heat capacity. This term refers to the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree Celsius. Specific heat capacity is a crucial property in thermodynamics, as it helps determine how different materials respond to heat and how they store thermal energy.

Understanding specific heat capacity is essential for calculating heat transfer in physical systems and plays a significant role in various scientific applications, such as climate science, materials science, and engineering. This term is distinctly different from temperature measures, constants like the speed of light, or other conditions of pressure, which do not pertain directly to the quantity of heat a substance can store.