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
Scientists warn on climate tipping points
Mar 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A survey of top climate scientists has revealed there is a real chance of key climate tipping points being passed with serious consequences for the planet.
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, ...
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.
Climate trouble may be bubbling up in far north
Aug 30, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Only a squawk from a sandhill crane broke the Arctic silence - and a low gurgle of bubbles, a watery whisper of trouble repeated in countless spots around the polar world.
Breakthrough experiment on high-temperature superconductors
Dec 12, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New information about the metallic state from which high temperature superconductivity emerges, has been revealed in an innovative experiment performed at the University of Bristol.
Arctic at warmest levels in 2,000 years or more
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 03, 2009 |
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Arctic temperatures in the 1990s reached their warmest level of any decade in at least 2,000 years, new research indicates. The study, which incorporates geologic records and computer simulations, provides ...
Energy secretary: Islands could disappear
Apr 19, 2009 |
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(AP) -- U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu is warning that if countries don't do something about climate change, "some island states will simply disappear."
A new measure of global warming from carbon emissions
Jun 10, 2009 |
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Damon Matthews, a professor in Concordia University's Department of Geography, Planning and the Environment has found a direct relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and global warming. Matthews, together with colleagues ...
New memory material may hold data for one billion years
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
May 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Packing more digital images, music, and other data onto silicon chips in USB drives and smart phones is like squeezing more strawberries into the same size supermarket carton. The denser you ...
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 ...
New Breakthrough in Global Warming Plant Production
Mar 30, 2009 |
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Researchers at the universities of Leicester and Oxford have made a discovery about plant growth which could potentially have an enormous impact on crop production as global warming increases.
Operating quantum memory at room temperature
Aug 25, 2008 |
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Quantum dots, along with quantum wires, have been attracting notice over the past decade as possible building blocks of quantum information processing. Indium arsenide quantum dots (InAs) can be used for memory operations ...
Tropical lizards can't take the heat of climate warming
Mar 03, 2009 |
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From geckos and iguanas to Gila monsters and Komodo dragons, lizards are among the most common reptiles on Earth. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. One even pitches car insurance in TV ads. ...
Physicists Investigate Controversy over Room-Temperature Ice
Aug 05, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- By confining water in nano-sized spaces, physicists from Leiden University in the Netherlands have turned water into ice at room temperature. While it’s not the first time scientists have created room-temperature ...
British team trek to North Pole to measure sea ice
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 01, 2009 |
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Three British explorers have set out on a 90-day skiing expedition to the North Pole, measuring sea ice thickness the whole way to find out exactly how fast it is disappearing, according to the Catlin Arctic ...
