system
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human
What gives water it's high heat capacity?

What gives water it's high heat capacity? I am aware that the hydrogen bonds between water molecules require large amounts of energy to break but it does not make sense to me why the molar and specific heat capacities of water are so high when covalent bonds in other materials are stronger and should require more energy to break.
gpt
You're right it's not the inter molecular bond strength. Ammonia has a higher heat capacity yet lower inter molecular bond strengths when compared to water. Strong hydrogen bonds explains the high heat of vaporization / high boiling point but not the heat capacity.

Heat capacity is determined by the number of energy states (vibrational, rotational, kinetic etc) to raise the temperature. Ammonia has more vibrational states than water.