What is temperature?
The temperature of an object is a measure of how hot or cold it is. However, determining the temperature can be quite subjective, different people will have different perceptions of what is hot and what is cold.
In simple terms temperature is said to be the ‘degree of hotness’.
More scientifically, it is the potential for heat transfer, by conduction, convection or radiation.
A temperature difference causes heat to flow, just as a voltage causes a current to flow in a wire.
If two objects are placed in contact, heat will flow from the hotter to the colder.
When no more heat flows, we can say that they are at thermal equilibrium and that their temperatures are the same.
This is the property we can rely on when we measure temperature.
When we place a thermometer in contact with an object, the reading of the thermometer when the heat stops flowing tells us what the temperature of the object is.
