Temperature
hideIn physics, temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the higher temperature. Temperature is one of the principal parameters of thermodynamics. If no heat flow occurs between two objects, the objects have the same temperature; otherwise heat flows from the hotter object to the colder object. This is the content of the zeroth law of thermodynamics. On the microscopic scale, temperature can be defined as the average energy in each degree of freedom in the particles in a system. Because temperature is a statistical property, a system must contain a few particles for the question as to its temperature to make any sense. For a solid, this energy is found in the vibrations of its atoms about their equilibrium positions. In an ideal monatomic gas, energy is found in the translational motions of the particles; with molecular gases, vibrational and rotational motions also provide thermodynamic degrees of freedom.
Temperature is measured with thermometers that may be calibrated to a variety of temperature scales. In most of the world (except for Belize, Myanmar, Liberia and the United States), the Celsius scale is used for most temperature measuring purposes. The entire scientific world (these countries included) measures temperature using the Celsius scale and thermodynamic temperature using the Kelvin scale, which is just the Celsius scale shifted downwards so that 0 K= −273.15 °C, or absolute zero. Many engineering fields in the U.S., notably high-tech and US federal specifications (civil and military), also use the kelvin and degrees Celsius scales. Other engineering fields in the U.S. also rely upon the Rankine scale (a shifted Fahrenheit scale) when working in thermodynamic-related disciplines such as combustion.
For more information about Temperature, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with temperature
Caribbean, Gulf spared widespread coral damage
Nov 06, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Lower-than-feared sea temperatures this summer gave a break to fragile coral reefs across the Caribbean and the central Gulf of Mexico that were damaged in recent years, scientists said Thursday.
Climate variability impacts the deep sea
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Deep-sea ecosystems occupying 60% of the Earth's surface could be vulnerable to the effects of global warming warn scientists writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Green is cool, but US land changes generally are not
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Most land use changes occurring in the continental U.S result in raised regional surface temperatures, says a new study by scientists at the University of Maryland, Purdue University and the University of ...
Smart drug delivery system -- Gold nanocage covered with polymer (w/ Video)
Nov 01, 2009 |
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In campy old movies, Lucretia Borgia swans around emptying powder from her ring into wine glasses carelessly left unattended. The poison ring is usually a confection of gold filigree holding a cabochon or ...
Pinning Down Superconductivity to a Single Layer
Oct 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Using precision techniques for making superconducting thin films layer-by-layer, physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a single layer ...
Circadian surprise: Mechanism of temperature synchronization in drosophila
Oct 28, 2009 |
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New research reveals a pathway that links peripheral sensory tissues with a "clock" in the brain to regulate molecular processes and behaviors in response to cyclical temperature changes. The research, published by Cell Press ...
Tropical Depression Neki nulled by cool waters and wind shear
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 27, 2009 |
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Two ingredients that don't mix well with tropical cyclones are waters cooler than 80 degrees Fahrenheit and wind shear. Those two ingredients were added into Tropical Depression Neki's mix late yesterday, ...
Xerox Develops Silver Ink for Cheap Printable Electronics
Oct 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Xerox has developed an ink which can be used to print circuits onto plastics, films, and textiles. Although circuits printed on flexible materials aren't new, Xerox's method may be cheap and ...
Statistics experts reject global cooling claims
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Have you heard that the world is now cooling instead of warming? You may have seen some news reports on the Internet or heard about it from a provocative new book.
Carbenes: New molecules have wide applications
Oct 22, 2009 |
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Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have created in the laboratory a class of carbenes, highly reactive molecules, used to make catalysts - substances that facilitate chemical reactions. ...
Luzon expecting a Lupit landfall
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 20, 2009 |
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Typhoon Lupit is closing in on northern Luzon, the Philippines, and is expected to make a brief landfall (of about 24 hours) there October 22 before heading into the South China Sea.
Brain-damaged children often have cold feet
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Many wheelchair-using children with neurological disorders have much colder hands and feet than other children, and most receive no special help even though they have had these problems for a long time, is revealed in at ...
NASA satellite tracking Typhoon Lupit on a march toward the northern Philippines
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 16, 2009 |
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Three instruments on NASA's Aqua satellite captured views of Typhoon Lupit on its western track toward the Philippines and are helping forecasters get an idea of its strength and behavior. Lupit strengthened ...
Tiny Test Tube Experiment Shows Reaction Of Melting Materials at the Nano Scale (w/ Video)
Oct 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have conducted a basic chemistry experiment in what is perhaps the world's smallest test tube, measuring a thousandth the diameter of a human hair.
Winter forecast: Warmer West, North; cooler South
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 15, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The Midwest and Northern United States are likely to get a warmer winter, while the Southeast can expect just the opposite: cooler and wetter conditions.
