Specific heat ("s") is a particular type of heat capacity. Specific heat is the thermodynamic property, which states the amount of heat required for a single unit of mass of a substance to be raised by one degree of temperature. Varying ranges of specific heat values are seen for substances depending on the extent to which they absorb heat. The term heat capacity can be misleading since heat "q" is the term given to the addition or removal of energy, across a barrier to a substance or system, as a result of increasing or decreasing the temperature respectively. Temperature changes are really changes in energy. Therefore, specific heat and other forms of heat capacity are more accurately measures of the capacity of a substance to absorb energy as the temperature of the substance increases.