Theory 04/Molecular & anomalous/Heat capacity
Heat Capacity Is a Two-State Balance
The claim
Water's anomalous heat capacity is set by the ratio of low-density to high-density populations, so the peak occurs where the populations are most sensitive to temperature.
01Mechanism
Absorbing heat shifts the population balance; the shift is largest where the two states are near equal.
02Prediction
The capacity peak should track the population ratio.
03Refutation
Capacity tracking bond number would remove the two-state picture.