Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the attribute of hotness or coldness. It is a measure of the hotness or coldness of a body, which in turn is a measure of the kinetic energy of particles. Temperature is measured with a thermometer, and it reflects the kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making up a substance. Key points about temperature include:
- Temperature is a measure of a quality of a state of a material, and it is called hotness by some writers.
- Temperature is an intensive property of matter, as it does not depend on the number of particles in a sample and can be written in an equation as a ratio of extensive properties.
- Temperature is not the equivalent of the energy of a thermodynamic system.
- Heat flows from a body with higher temperature to one of lower temperature.
- Temperature scales like Celsius and Fahrenheit are relative temperature scales, with zero points relating to the freezing point of water. The Kelvin scale measures absolute temperature, where zero is absolute zero.
In summary, temperature is a measure of the hotness or coldness of a body, and it reflects the kinetic energy of particles. It is measured with a thermometer and can be expressed in different temperature scales.
