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.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with temperature
African leaf-eating monkeys are 'likely to be wiped out' by climate change
Dec 18, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (7) |
4
(PhysOrg.com) -- Monkey species will become 'increasingly at risk of extinction' because of global warming, according to new research published this week.
Low-cost temperature sensors, tennis balls to monitor mountain snowpack
Dec 14, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
(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 ...
Search results for temperature
Global warming likely to be amplified by slow changes to Earth systems
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
18 hours ago |
2.7 / 5 (27) |
23
Researchers studying a period of high carbon dioxide levels and warm climate several million years ago have concluded that slow changes such as melting ice sheets amplified the initial warming caused by greenhouse gases.
Tiny whispering gallery: Sensor can detect a single nanoparticle and take its measurement
Dec 18, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (16) |
0
Nanotechnology has already made it to the shelves of your local pharmacy and grocery: nanoparticles are found in anti-odor socks, makeup, makeup remover, sunscreen, anti-graffiti paint, home pregnancy tests, ...
Large Hadron Collider preparing 2010 new science restart
Dec 18, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (12) |
2
(AP) -- The world's largest atom smasher, which exceeded expectations after its comeback from heavy damage, will be ready to begin a groundbreaking research program in February, the operator said Friday.
Physicists see through the opaque with 'T-rays'
Dec 18, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (10) |
0
"T-rays" may make X-rays obsolete as a means of detecting bombs on terrorists or illegal drugs on traffickers, among other uses, contends a Texas A&M physicist who is helping lay the theoretical groundwork to make the concept ...
Want to live well? Harvard experts offer pragmatic pointers on getting healthy and staying there
Dec 17, 2009 |
4 / 5 (10) |
1
You are what you eat. You're also how you feel, how you exercise, how you sleep, how you handle money, how you relate to people, and what you value.
IBM Reveals Five Innovations that Will Change Cities in the Next Five Years (w/ Video)
Dec 17, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (8) |
1
Today, IBM unveiled a list of innovations that have the potential to change how people live, work and play in cities around the globe over the next five to ten years.
New pictures reveal rich Antarctic marine life in area of rapid climate change
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- New photographs of ice fish, octopus, sea pigs, giant sea spiders, rare rays and beautiful basket stars that live in Antarctica’s continental shelf seas are revealed this week by the British ...
Computer simulation strengthens link between climate change and release of subsea methane
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (22) |
20
(PhysOrg.com) -- A first-of-its-kind computer simulation that mirrors real-world observations of methane bubbling up from a seabed in the Arctic Ocean provides further evidence that warming oceans may unleash ...
Research finds happiest US States match a million Americans' own happiness states
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Dec 17, 2009 |
2 / 5 (6) |
17
New research by the UK's University of Warwick and Hamilton College in the US into the happiness levels of a million individual US citizens have revealed their personal happiness levels closely correlate ...
A Search for Stability for Platinum Catalysts
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 17, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new carbon support that greatly increases the durability of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells has been developed by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Princeton University. ...
List of search results for temperature
