Temperature:

Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin

 Temperature vs. Heat
With your neighbor, try to distinguish between
temperature and heat.
(Qualitatively and Quantitatively)
Thermal Energy (Heat) & Temperature
• How would you describe the temperature of a
steaming cup of coffee?

• If you said it is “hot” do you mean:

A) It has high temperature
Or
B) It has a large amount of thermal energy?
• Let’s think about Temperature and Thermal Energy
and see if there is a difference.
 Temperature
• Operational Definition: Defined in terms of
how a property is measured.

-Thermometers have a liquid that

when placed in contact with
another body either expands or
contracts.

-To be useful, a thermometer

needs a scale with major and
minor delineations
 Celsius
• 1742 Swedish astronomer, Anders Celsius used a
mercury thermometer and defined his scale in
terms of critical points of pure water.

Advantages:
-Reproducible
-Scale of 10 CONVERSION
5
Disadvantages: TC = (TF - 32°)
-Arbitrary zero value 9
-Negative numbers
 Kelvin
• 1848, British scientist, William Thomson Lord
Kelvin developed a scale that relies on the
average kinetic energy of atoms.

Advantages:
-Absolute scale
-Empirical CONVERSION
-No Negatives
TK = TC + 273
-Still a scale of 10
 Temperature
• Roughly speaking, temperature is a
comparative measure of hot and cold

• Kelvin is based on measuring the average

kinetic energy of atoms in a sample…
 Thermal Energy
• The sum of the kinetic and potential energies
of the atoms/molecules in a body. Thermal
Energy is also referred to as INTERNAL Energy.
 Temperature vs. Heat
• Temperature in the basic sense, is a
measurement of hot and cold.

• Specifically, temperature gives us a measure of

the average kinetic energy of particles in a
sample

• Heat represents the total kinetic energy of

particles in a sample
 Temperature

Peak emittance wavelength[65]

Kelvin Degrees Celsius of black-body radiation

Absolute zero
0K −273.15 °C cannot be defined
(precisely by definition)
Coldest temperature
100 pK −273.149999999900 °C 29,000 km
achieved[66]
Coldest Bose–Einstein
450 pK −273.14999999955 °C 6,400 km
condensate[67]
One millikelvin 2.89777 m
0.001 K −273.149 °C
(precisely by definition) (radio, FM band)[68]
Water's triple point 10,608.3 nm
273.16 K 0.01 °C
(precisely by definition) (long wavelength I.R.)
7,766.03 nm
Water's boiling point[A] 373.1339 K 99.9839 °C
(mid wavelength I.R.)
1,160 nm
Incandescent lamp[B] 2500 K ≈2,200 °C
(near infrared)[C]
501.5 nm
Sun's visible surface[D][69] 5,778 K 5,505 °C
(green-blue light)
Lightning bolt's 100 nm
28 kK 28,000 °C
channel[E] (far ultraviolet light)
Sun's core[E] 16 MK 16 million °C 0.18 nm (X-rays)
Thermonuclear weapon 8.3×10−3 nm
350 MK 350 million °C
(peak temperature)[E][70] (gamma rays)

Sandia National Labs' 1.4×10−3 nm

2 GK 2 billion °C
Z machine[E][71] (gamma rays)[F]
Core of a high-mass 1×10−3 nm
3 GK 3 billion °C
star on its last day[E][72] (gamma rays)
Merging binary neutron 8×10−6 nm
350 GK 350 billion °C
star system[E][73] (gamma rays)
Relativistic Heavy 3×10−6 nm
1 TK 1 trillion °C
Ion Collider[E][74] (gamma rays)
CERN's proton vs 3×10−7 nm
10 TK 10 trillion °C
nucleus collisions[E][75] (gamma rays)
Universe 5.391×10−44 s 1.616×10−27 nm
1.417×1032 K 1.417×1032 °C
after the Big Bang[E] (Planck Length)[76]
Physical Properties that Depend on
Temperature
 Temperature Scales
• Fahrenheit (oF)
*Introduced in 1724
*Defined by 2 fixed points based on the properties of water (32-
freezing pt/212-boiling point)
*First modern thermometer (Hg)
• Celsius (oC)
*Introduced 18 years later (1742)
*Defined by setting boiling point of water to 0o and
boiling point to 100o
*Absolute zero in Celsius is -273.15o
• Kelvin
*Introduced 1848
*Zero point set to Absolute Zero
Converting Between Scales
Celsius and Fahrenheit

oC = 5/9(oF – 32)

oF= 9/5o + 32
Converting Between Scales
Celsius and Kelvin

K= oC + 273
 Practice
• Convert 32oF into Celsius (Proof of Concept)
 Practice
• Convert 32oC into K
 Practice
• Convert 580oF into K