Maths Term 4
Temperature
Temperature is the measure of the warmth or coldness of an object or material. Temperature is the expression of thermal energy.
Temperature is measured using a device called a thermometer. The most common type uses a long thin tube that is filled with liquid mercury, or sometimes alcohol. Why are they used? Mercury and alcohol will remain liquids over a wider range of temperatures than other liquids. The mercury will rise when the temperature is warmer, and fall when the temperature is colder. So, say a room is warm, the temperature causes a slight change in the volume of the liquid used in the thermometer. This causes it to rise up the tube, now reflecting a higher temperature.
Temperature is measured using a device called a thermometer. The most common type uses a long thin tube that is filled with liquid mercury, or sometimes alcohol. Why are they used? Mercury and alcohol will remain liquids over a wider range of temperatures than other liquids. The mercury will rise when the temperature is warmer, and fall when the temperature is colder. So, say a room is warm, the temperature causes a slight change in the volume of the liquid used in the thermometer. This causes it to rise up the tube, now reflecting a higher temperature.
How is Temperature Measured?Temperature is measured with three different degrees.
- Celsius: The most common form of measuring temperature in day-to-day situations. The Celsius scale is used to measure temperature in the UK.
- Fahrenheit: The less common form of measuring temperature, although some countries (United States) use this scale as their main temperature units.
- Kelvin: Kelvin is used in cases of extreme heat or cold - most often in scientific environments. 0 Kelvin is also known as absolute zero, theoretically, this is where particles are not moving at all, although this would never be observed naturally.