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From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Temperature is a measurement of how hot or cold something is, measured using a thermometer. There are several temperature scales, with the most common being Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin. Absolute zero is the coldest possible temperature, at which atoms and molecules have minimal motion. Temperature affects many physical processes and is important in science and daily life.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
121 views1 page

From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Temperature is a measurement of how hot or cold something is, measured using a thermometer. There are several temperature scales, with the most common being Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin. Absolute zero is the coldest possible temperature, at which atoms and molecules have minimal motion. Temperature affects many physical processes and is important in science and daily life.

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Temperature - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A temperature is an objective comparative measurement of hot or cold. It is measured by a thermometer.


Several scales and units exist for measuring temperature, the most common being Celsius (denoted C;
formerly called centigrade), Fahrenheit (denoted F), and, especially in science, Kelvin (denoted K).
The coldest theoretical temperature is absolute zero, at which the thermal motion of atoms and molecules
reaches its minimum classically, this would be a state of motionlessness, but quantum uncertainty dictates that
the particles still possess a finite zero-point energy. Absolute zero is denoted as 0 K on the Kelvin scale,
273.15 C on the Celsius scale, and 459.67 F on the Fahrenheit scale.
The kinetic theory offers a valuable but limited account of the behavior of the materials of macroscopic bodies,
especially of fluids. It indicates the absolute temperature as proportional to the average kinetic energy of the
random microscopic motions of those of their constituent microscopic particles, such as electrons, atoms, and
molecules, that move freely within the material.
Temperature is important in all fields of natural science including physics, geology, chemistry, atmospheric
sciences, medicine and biology as well as most aspects of daily life.

Many physical processes are affected by temperature, such as


physical properties of materials including the phase (solid, liquid, gaseous or plasma), density, solubility,
vapor pressure, electrical conductivity
rate and extent to which chemical reactions occur
the amount and properties of thermal radiation emitted from the surface of an object
speed of sound is a function of the square root of the absolute temperature

Temperature scales differ in two ways: the point chosen as zero degrees, and the magnitudes of incremental
units or degrees on the scale.
The Celsius scale (C) is used for common temperature measurements in most of the world. It is an empirical
scale. It developed by a historical progress, which led to its zero point 0 C being defined by the freezing point
of water, with additional degrees defined so that 100 C was the boiling point of water, both at sea-level
atmospheric pressure. Because of the 100 degree interval, it is called a centigrade scale.[1] Since the
standardization of the kelvin in the International System of Units, it has subsequently been redefined in terms of
the equivalent fixing points on the Kelvin scale, and so that a temperature increment of one degree Celsius is the
same as an increment of one kelvin, though they differ by an additive offset of 273.15.
The United States commonly uses the Fahrenheit scale, on which water freezes at 32 F and boils at 212 F at
sea-level atmospheric pressure.
Many scientific measurements use the Kelvin temperature scale (unit symbol: K), named in honor of the

12/20/2016 11:15 AM

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