It describes how much heat must be added to a unit of mass of a given substance to raise its temperature by one degree Celsius. ... The mass m, specific heat c, change in temperature ΔT, and heat added (or subtracted) Q are related by the equation: Q=mcΔT.
so q represents the amount of heat energy. M is the mass of the object and c is the temperature of the object. Δt also known as delta is the change in temperature. It would be the final temperature minus the original temperature.
