Latent Heat
Description
Latent heat is the energy released or absorbed by a body or a thermodynamic system during a constant-temperature process. A typical example is a change of state of matter, meaning a phase transition such as the melting of ice or the boiling of water. A specific latent heat (L) expresses the amount of energy in the form of heat (Q) required to completely effect a phase change of a unit of mass (m), usually 1kg, of a substance as an intensive property. Intensive properties are material characteristics and are not dependent on the size or extent of the sample. The latent heat for a given mass of a substance is calculated by the mass of the substance and the specific latent heat for the particular substance.
Related formulasVariables
Q | amount of energy released or absorbed during the change of phase of the substance (kJ) |
m | mass of the substance (kg) |
L | specific latent heat for a particular substance, either Lf for fusion, or Lv for vaporization. (kJ/kg) |