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
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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).
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 ...
Genetic sex determination let ancient species adapt to ocean life
Sep 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new analysis of extinct sea creatures suggests that the transition from egg-laying to live-born young opened up evolutionary pathways that allowed these ancient species to adapt to and thrive ...
Scientist Probes Promising Link Between Warmth, Better Moods
Sep 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The University of Colorado at Boulder scientist who discovered that playing in the dirt might ease depression is probing the link between higher temperatures and elevated mood.
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 ...
Scientists Detect 'Fingerprint' of High-Temp Superconductivity Above Transition Temperature
Aug 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of U.S. and Japanese scientists has shown for the first time that the spectroscopic "fingerprint" of high-temperature superconductivity remains intact well above the super chilly temperatures ...
