A thermometer reads 37 degrees for a healthy person, and a gas at the same moment has a temperature of 310 kelvin. In this course we separate temperature from heat, we meet the Celsius, Fahrenheit and Kelvin scales, we find the law of the ideal gas and the meaning of absolute zero, and we find how much solids, liquids and gases expand when they are heated, including the strange case of water near 4 degrees.
3 lessons, about 1 h 15 min3 simulations12 problems6 practice questionsPython in every lesson
Temperature tells which way heat will flow; heat is the energy that flows. Bodies in contact reach thermal equilibrium at one temperature. Thermometers use a property that changes steadily with temperature, fixed at the ice point and the steam point. and .
For a gas at low density, Boyle's law ( constant at steady temperature) and Charles's law ( at steady pressure) combine into the ideal gas equation, , with . Every gas's pressure, extended to lower temperatures, reaches zero at the same point: absolute zero, .
Most things grow when warmed. A length grows by , an area by and a volume by of itself per kelvin. Bridges and rails need gaps, bimetallic strips bend, and water is odd: it shrinks as it warms from to , so ponds freeze from the top.
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