heat capacity ratio

English

Noun

heat capacity ratio (plural heat capacity ratios)

1. (thermodynamics) The ratio of the heat capacity at constant pressure to the heat capacity at constant volume. It is typically denoted by γ or k.

   Synonyms: adiabatic index, Laplace's coefficient

   $\gamma ={\frac {C_{P}}{C_{V}}}$ (in terms of heat capacity)

   $\gamma ={\frac {{\bar {C}}_{P}}{{\bar {C}}_{V}}}$ (in terms of molar heat capacity)

   $\gamma ={\frac {c_{P}}{c_{V}}}$ (in terms of specific heat capacity)

Further reading

• heat capacity ratio on Wikipedia.Wikipedia