The amount of heat needed to raise a substance one degree in temperature is known as the specific heat of a substance. Once the specific heat of a substance is known it can be used to find various different facts, such as the change of heat that takes place during reactions.
The specific heat can also be used to calculate the change in temperature for a certain reaction. The molarity of a substance is directly proportional to the change in the temperature. The change in temperature depends on the concentration of the solution. The higher the molarity, the higher the temperature changes.
The specific heat of a substance is important while looking at the change in the temperature of a substance. Phase change and temperature change, however, cannot happen at the same time. When observing phase change the heat of fusion is important. The heat of fusion is how much heat must be emitted in order to change a substance from solid to liquid form.
Although all one needs to calculate the approximate change in temperature is how much heat is transferred, the mass of the substance, and the specific heat of the substance, in order to get a more accurate quantity one must consider the amount of heat that the calorimeter absorbs. Calorimeters each have a calorimeter constant which tells how many joules of heat are lost to the calorimeter for every degree Celsius the temperature changes. The use of a calorimeter constant while calculating data makes the data more accurate.