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
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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.
Advanced nuclear fuel sets global performance record
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Idaho National Laboratory scientists have set a new world record with next-generation particle fuel for use in high temperature gas reactors (HTGRs).
OLED Tunes its Colors for Sunlight-Style Illumination
Jul 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have developed a lighting device that can change its color temperature throughout the day, matching the natural daylight chromaticities produced by the sun. Currently, no other ...
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 ...
Study Yields Surprising New Insight into High-Temp Superconductors
Mar 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Recently, an international group of researchers discovered that the underlying mechanism producing high-temperature superconductivity in a widely studied class of copper-oxygen-based superconductors may be ...
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.
Stretchable Nanotube Films May Advance Medical Electronics (Update)
May 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the issues hindering the development of medical electronic devices capable of being implanted in the human body is the lack of suitable materials. Most semiconducting materials are ...
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 ...
New, Unusual Semiconductor is a Switch-Hitter
Jan 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A research group in Germany has discovered a semiconducting material that can switch its semiconducting properties -- turning from one type of semiconductor to another -- via a simple change in temperature. ...
Ice Cold: Cooler Than Being Cool
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Water expands when it freezes. Anyone who has ever left a can of soda or bottle of water in the freezer too long has witnessed this first hand. So how do plants and animals survive severe ...
Variable Temperatures Leave Insects wtih a Frosty Reception
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, scientists at The University of Western Ontario have shown that insects exposed to repeated periods of cold will trade reproduction for immediate survival.
Scientists revisit 1833 hydrogen production experiment
Nov 07, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In the early 1800s, during the peak of the Industrial Revolution, modern science revolved around steam engines and other coal-powered applications. So it may seem a bit out of place that, ...
