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TemperatureandThermometers
IntroductiontoThermalPhysics
TemperatureandThermometers
ThermometersasSpeedometers
WhatisHeat?
MethodsofHeatTransfer
RatesofHeatTransfer

Weallhave afeel
forwhattemperatureis.Weevenhaveasharedlanguagethatweusetoqualitatively
describetemperature.Thewaterintheshowerorbathtubfeelshotorcoldorwarm.Theweather
outsideis chilly steamy
or .Wecertainlyhaveagoodfeelforhowonetemperatureisqualitatively
differentthananothertemperature.Wemaynotalwaysagreeonwhethertheroomtemperatureistoo
hotortoocoldorjustright.Butwewilllikelyallagreethatwepossessbuiltinthermometersformaking
qualitativejudgmentsaboutrelativetemperatures.

WhatisTemperature?
Despiteourbuiltinfeelfortemperature,itremainsoneofthoseconceptsinsciencethatisdifficultto
define.Itseemsthatatutorialpageexploringthetopicoftemperatureandthermometersshouldbegin
withasimpledefinitionoftemperature.ButitisatthispointthatI'm stumped
.SoIturntothatfamiliar
resource,Dictionary.com...whereIfinddefinitionsthatvaryfromthesimpleyetnottooenlightening
tothetoocomplextobeenlightening.Attheriskofdoingabellyflopinthepoolofenlightenment,I
willlistsomeofthosedefinitionshere:
Thedegreeofhotnessorcoldnessofabodyorenvironment.
Ameasureofthewarmthorcoldnessofanobjectorsubstancewithreferencetosomestandard
value.
Ameasureoftheaveragekineticenergyoftheparticlesinasampleofmatter,expressedintermsof
unitsordegreesdesignatedonastandardscale.
Ameasureoftheabilityofasubstance,ormoregenerallyofanyphysicalsystem,totransferheat
energytoanotherphysicalsystem.
Anyofvariousstandardizednumericalmeasuresofthisability,suchastheKelvin,Fahrenheit,and
Celsiusscale.
Forcertain,wearecomfortablewiththefirsttwodefinitionsthe
degreeormeasureofhowhotorcoldanobjectis.Butour
understandingoftemperatureisnotfurtheredbysuchdefinitions.
Thethirdandthefourthdefinitionsthatreferencethekinetic
energyofparticlesandtheabilityofasubstancetotransferheat
arescientificallyaccurate.However,thesedefinitionsarefartoo
sophisticatedtoserveasgoodstartingpointsforadiscussionof
temperature.Sowewillresigntoadefinitionsimilartothefifthone
thatislistedtemperaturecanbedefinedasthereadingona
thermometer.Admittedly,thisdefinitionlacksthepowerthatisneededforelicitingthemuch
desired Aha!NowIUnderstand! moment.Nonethelessitservesasagreatstartingpointforthislesson
onheatandtemperature.Temperatureiswhatthethermometerreads.Whateveritisthat
temperatureisameasureof,itisreflectedbythereadingonathermometer.Soexactlyhowdoesa
thermometerwork?Howdoesitreliably meter whateveritisthattemperatureisameasureof?

HowaThermometerWorks
Today,thereareavarietyoftypesofthermometers.Thetypethatmostofusarefamiliarwithfrom
scienceclassisthetypethatconsistsofaliquidencasedinanarrowglasscolumn.Olderthermometers
ofthistypeusedliquidmercury.Inresponsetoourunderstandingofthehealthconcernsassociated
withmercuryexposure,thesetypesofthermometersusuallyusesometypeofliquidalcohol.These
liquidthermometersarebasedontheprincipalofthermalexpansion.Whenasubstancegetshotter,it
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expandstoagreatervolume.Nearlyallsubstancesexhibitthisbehaviorofthermalexpansion.Itisthe
basisofthedesignandoperationofthermometers.
Asthetemperatureoftheliquidinathermometerincreases,itsvolumeincreases.Theliquidisenclosed
inatall,narrowglass(orplastic)columnwithaconstantcrosssectionalarea.Theincreaseinvolumeis
thusduetoachangeinheightoftheliquidwithinthecolumn.Theincreaseinvolume,andthusinthe
heightoftheliquidcolumn,isproportionaltotheincreaseintemperature.Supposethata10degree
increaseintemperaturecausesa1cmincreaseinthecolumn'sheight.Thena20degreeincreasein
temperaturewillcausea2cmincreaseinthecolumn'sheight.Anda30degreeincreaseintemperature
willcauses3cmincreaseinthecolumn'sheight.Therelationshipbetweenthetemperatureandthe
column'sheightislinearoverthesmalltemperaturerangeforwhichthethermometerisused.This
linearrelationshipmakesthecalibrationofathermometerarelativelyeasytask.
Thecalibrationofanymeasuringtoolinvolvestheplacementofdivisionsormarksuponthetoolto
measureaquantityaccuratelyincomparisontoknownstandards.Anymeasuringtoolevenameter
stickmustbecalibrated.Thetoolneedsdivisionsormarkings
forinstance,ametersticktypicallyhasmarkingsevery1cm
apartorevery1mmapart.Thesemarkingsmustbeaccurately
placedandtheaccuracyoftheirplacementcanonlybejudged
whencomparingittoanotherobjectthatispreciselyknownto
haveacertainlength.
Athermometeriscalibratedbyusingtwoobjectsofknown
temperatures.Thetypicalprocessinvolvesusingthefreezing
pointandtheboilingpointofpurewater.Waterisknowntofreezeat0Candtoboilat100Catan
atmosphericpressureof1atm.Byplacingathermometerinmixtureoficewaterandallowingthe
thermometerliquidtoreachastableheight,the0degreemarkcanbeplaceduponthethermometer.
Similarly,byplacingthethermometerinboilingwater(at1atmofpressure)andallowingtheliquid
leveltoreachastableheight,the100degreemarkcanbeplaceduponthethermometer.Withthese
twomarkingsplaceduponthethermometer,100equallyspaceddivisionscanbeplacedbetweenthem
torepresentthe1degreemarks.Sincethereisalinearrelationshipbetweenthetemperatureandthe
heightoftheliquid,thedivisionsbetween0degreeand100degreecanbeequallyspaced.Witha
calibratedthermometer,accuratemeasurementscanbemadeofthetemperatureofanyobjectwithin
thetemperaturerangeforwhichithasbeencalibrated.

TemperatureScales
Thethermometercalibrationprocessdescribedaboveresultsinwhatisknownasacentigrade
thermometer.Acentigradethermometerhas100divisionsorintervalsbetweenthenormalfreezing
pointandthenormalboilingpointofwater.Today,thecentigradescaleisknownastheCelsiusscale,
namedaftertheSwedishastronomerAndersCelsiuswhoiscreditedwithitsdevelopment.TheCelsius
scaleisthemostwidelyacceptedtemperaturescaleusedthroughouttheworld.Itisthestandardunit
oftemperaturemeasurementinnearlyallcountries,themostnotableexceptionbeingtheUnitedStates.
Usingthisscale,atemperatureof28degreesCelsiusisabbreviatedas28C.
Traditionallyslowtoadoptthemetricsystemandotheracceptedunitsofmeasurements,theUnited
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StatesmorecommonlyusestheFahrenheittemperaturescale.Athermometercanbecalibrated
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usingtheFahrenheitscaleinasimilarmanneraswasdescribedabove.Thedifferenceisthatthenormal
freezingpointofwaterisdesignatedas32degreesandthenormalboilingpointofwaterisdesignated
as212degreesintheFahrenheitscale.Assuch,thereare180divisionsorintervalsbetweenthesetwo
temperatureswhenusingtheFahrenheitscale.TheFahrenheitscaleisnamedinhonorofGerman
physicistDanielFahrenheit.Atemperatureof76degreeFahrenheitisabbreviatedas76F.Inmost
countriesthroughouttheworld,theFahrenheitscalehasbeenreplacedbytheuseoftheCelsiusscale.
TemperaturesexpressedbytheFahrenheitscalecanbeconvertedtotheCelsiusscaleequivalentusing
theequationbelow:
C=(F32)/1.8
Similarly,temperaturesexpressedbytheCelsiusscalecanbeconvertedtotheFahrenheitscale
equivalentusingtheequationbelow:
F=1.8C+32

TheKelvinTemperatureScale
WhiletheCelsiusandFahrenheitscalesarethemostwidelyusedtemperaturescales,thereareseveral
otherscalesthathavebeenusedthroughouthistory.Forexample,thereistheRankinescale,the
NewtonscaleandtheRomerscale,allofwhicharerarelyused.Finally,thereistheKelvin
temperaturescale,whichisthestandardmetricsystemoftemperaturemeasurementandperhaps
themostwidelyusedtemperaturescaleamongscientists.TheKelvintemperaturescaleissimilartothe
Celsiustemperaturescaleinthesensethatthereare100equaldegreeincrementsbetweenthenormal
freezingpointandthenormalboilingpointofwater.However,thezerodegreemarkontheKelvin
temperaturescaleis273.15unitscoolerthanitisontheCelsiusscale.Soatemperatureof0Kelvinis
equivalenttoatemperatureof273.15C.Observethatthedegreesymbolisnotusedwiththissystem.
Soatemperatureof300unitsabove0Kelvinisreferredtoas300Kelvinandnot300degreeKelvin
suchatemperatureisabbreviatedas300K.ConversionsbetweenCelsiustemperaturesandKelvin
temperatures(andviceversa)canbeperformedusingoneofthetwoequationsbelow.
C=K273.15
K=C+273.15

ThezeropointontheKelvinscaleisknownasabsolutezero.Itisthelowesttemperaturethatcanbe
achieved.TheconceptofanabsolutetemperatureminimumwaspromotedbyScottishphysicistWilliam
Thomson(a.k.a.LordKelvin)in1848.Thomsontheorizedbasedonthermodynamicprinciplesthatthe
lowesttemperaturewhichcouldbeachievedwas273C.PriortoThomson,experimentalistssuchas
RobertBoyle(late17thcentury)werewellawareoftheobservationthatthevolume(andeventhe
pressure)ofasampleofgaswasdependentuponitstemperature.Measurementsofthevariationsof
pressureandvolumewithchangesinthetemperaturecouldbemadeandplotted.Plotsofvolumevs.
temperature(atconstantpressure)andpressurevs.temperature(atconstantvolume)reflectedthe
sameconclusionthevolumeandthepressureofagasreducestozeroatatemperatureof273C.
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Sincethesearethelowestvaluesofvolumeandpressurethatarepossible,itisreasonabletoconclude
that273Cwasthelowesttemperaturethatwaspossible.

Thomsonreferredtothisminimumlowesttemperatureas absolutezero
andarguedthatatemperature
scalebeadoptedthathadabsolutezeroasthelowestvalueonthescale.Today,thattemperaturescale
bearshisname.Scientistsandengineershavebeenabletocoolmatterdowntotemperaturescloseto
273.15C,butneverbelowit.Intheprocessofcoolingmattertotemperaturesclosetoabsolutezero,a
varietyofunusualpropertieshavebeenobserved.Thesepropertiesincludesuperconductivity,
superfluidityandastateofmatterknownasaBoseEinsteincondensate.

Temperatureiswhatthethermometerreads.Butwhatexactlyistemperatureareflectionof?The
conceptofanabsolutezerotemperatureisquiteinterestingandtheobservationofremarkablephysical
propertiesforsamplesofmatterapproachingabsolutezeromakesoneponderthetopicmoredeeply.Is
theresomethinghappeningattheparticlelevelwhichisrelatedtotheobservationsmadeatthe
macroscopiclevel?Istheresomethingdeepertotemperaturethansimplythereadingona
thermometer?Asthetemperatureofasampleofmatterincreasesordecreases,whatishappeningat
thelevelofatomsandmolecules?ThesequestionswillbeaddressedonthenextpageofLesson1.

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