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
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News tagged with temperature
Climate change puts ecosystems on the run, researchers say
Dec 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Global warming is causing habitats to move across the landscape. Can the creatures living there keep up? If they can't, some species may die out, researchers say.
Shape shifters: Researchers create new breed of antennas
Dec 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Antennas aren't just for listening to the radio anymore. They're used in everything from cell phones to GPS devices. Research from North Carolina State University is revolutionizing the field ...
African leaf-eating monkeys are 'likely to be wiped out' by climate change
Dec 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Monkey species will become 'increasingly at risk of extinction' because of global warming, according to new research published this week.
Study: Earth more sensitive to carbon dioxide than previously thought
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 06, 2009 |
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In the long term, the Earth's temperature may be 30-50% more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than has previously been estimated, reports a new study published in Nature Geoscience this week.
Low-cost temperature sensors, tennis balls to monitor mountain snowpack
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Fictional secret agent Angus MacGyver knew that tough situations demand ingenuity. Jessica Lundquist takes a similar approach to studying snowfall. The University of Washington assistant professor ...
First metallic nanoparticles resistant to extreme heat
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 30, 2009 |
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A University of Pittsburgh team overcame a major hurdle plaguing the development of nanomaterials such as those that could lead to more efficient catalysts used to produce hydrogen and render car exhaust less toxic. The researchers ...
Leaked document stirs anger at climate summit
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A leaked Danish document at the U.N. climate conference provoked angry criticism Tuesday from developing countries who feared it would shift more of the burden to curb greenhouse gases on poorer countries.
Super cool atom thermometer
Dec 07, 2009 |
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As physicists strive to cool atoms down to ever more frigid temperatures, they face the daunting task of developing new, reliable ways of measuring these extreme lows. Now a team of physicists has devised ...
Carbon and oxygen in tree rings can reveal past climate information
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 03, 2009 |
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The analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopes embedded in tree rings may shed new light on past climate events in the Mackenzie Delta region of northern Canada.
New method of measuring ocean CO2 uptake could lead to climate change 'early warning system'
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 03, 2009 |
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An international team of scientists led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has developed a new method of measuring the absorption of CO2 by the oceans and mapped for the first time CO2 uptake for the entire North Atlantic.
Leaders say momentum building on climate change
Nov 29, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Leaders of the Commonwealth countries called Saturday for a legally binding international agreement on climate change and a global fund with billions of dollars to help poor countries meet its mandates.
Climate change in Kuwait Bay
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Since 1985, seawater temperature in Kuwait Bay, northern Arabian Gulf, has increased on average 0.6°C per decade. This is about three times faster than the global average rate reported by the Intergovernmental ...
