What term describes heat that can be sensed or detected?

The term that describes heat that can be sensed or detected is sensible heat. This is the heat energy that causes a change in temperature of a substance without changing its phase. Sensible heat can be directly felt or measured with a thermometer; for instance, when you heat water on a stove, you can feel the water getting warmer—that increase in temperature due to the added energy is considered sensible heat.

In contrast, latent heat refers to the heat required for a substance to change its phase, such as from solid to liquid or liquid to gas, without a temperature change. This means that while latent heat is crucial in processes like boiling or melting, it cannot be sensed in terms of temperature change.

Specific heat is a property that indicates how much heat is required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a substance by one degree Celsius. While it relates to how substances absorb heat, it does not directly denote heat that can be sensed.

The temperature gradient is a measure of how temperature changes with respect to distance in a given medium. While it can indicate heat flow due to temperature differences, it doesn't specifically define any type of heat that can be sensed.

Therefore, sensible heat is the clear choice when discussing heat that can be detected through temperature changes.