11-1-temperature-and-thermal-energy_summary

This section discusses the concept of temperature as a measure of internal kinetic energy, and how it can be converted between Celsius, Kelvin, and Fahrenheit scales. Temperature is defined as what we measure on a thermometer, and it is related to the kinetic energy of molecules. Faster moving molecules have greater kinetic energies, and thus a higher temperature. Heat, on the other hand, is the transfer of energy due to a temperature difference. Heat is often confused with temperature, but they are not the same. The three commonly used temperature scales are the Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin scales. The Celsius scale uses the freezing point of water as its reference point, with the boiling point of water being 100 . The Fahrenheit scale has the freezing point of water at 32 and the boiling point at 212 . The Kelvin scale is an absolute temperature scale where the lowest possible temperature, absolute zero, is assigned the value of zero. The freezing point of water is 273.15 K and the boiling point of water is 373.15 K. There is a relationship between the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales, such that a temperature difference of one degree Celsius is 1.8 times larger than a temperature difference of one degree Fahrenheit. This relationship can be used to convert between temperatures in Fahrenheit and Celsius. The average normal body temperature is 98.6 (37.0 ), but people can survive with body temperatures ranging from 75 to 111 . The lowest temperature ever created and measured during a laboratory experiment was K, and the coldest recorded temperature on Earth’s surface was 183 K. Absolute zero has never been reached in practice as atoms and molecules can never be completely motionless.