Heat capacity properties are often prefixed with the term "specific". International standards now recommend that specific heat capacity always refer to division by mass. The units for the specific heat capacity are formula_7. In chemistry, heat capacity is often specified relative to one mole, the unit of amount of substance, and is called the molar heat capacity. It has the unit formula_8. For some considerations it is useful to specify the volume-specific heat capacity, commonly called volumetric heat capacity, which is the heat capacity per unit volume and has SI units formula_9. This is used almost exclusively for liquids and solids, since
2019 redefinition of SI base units effect of redefining the SI base units, though the definitions of the SI derived units in terms of the base units remain the same. Following the CCU proposal, the text of the definitions of all the base units was either refined or rewritten changing the emphasis from explicit-unit to explicit-constant type definitions. Explicit-unit type definitions define a unit in terms of a specific example of that unit – for example in 1324 Edward II defined the inch as being the length of three barleycorns and since 1889 the kilogram has been defined as being the mass of the International Prototype