CH#9: Temperature

Temperature: hotness/coldness of a body. Sum of internal kinetic and potential

energy.

Heat: the amount of thermal energy that is being passed in from a hot body to a
cold body.

Internal energy: total energy of all particles in a substance.

Depends on:
 forces b/ween particles
 distance b/ween particles

Comprises of:

 Internal kinetic energy: the total energy of all particles in a substance.

 Internal potential energy: due to stretching/compressing of the
internal/intermolecular bonds as particles move.

Thermometers
Range: scale of degrees a thermometer can measure.
Sensitivity: how sensitive a thermometer is to changes in the temperature
Linearity: accuracy of marked points from which temperature is read

Thermometer Calibration
Two points needed for calibration:
 Lower Fixed Point (Ice Point): the temperature of pure melting ice at one
atm, assigned a value of 0 ◦C
 Upper Fixed Point (Steam Point): the temperature of steam from pure
water boiling at one atm, assigned a value of 100 ◦C

Steps to calibrate a thermometer:

 1. Find the Ice Point by placing the thermometer's bulb in pure melting ice.
Mark the reading after the thermometer reading stabilizes
2. Find the Steam Point by placing the thermometer's bulb above pure boiling
ice. Mark the reading after the thermometer reading stabilizes
3. Divide the length b/ween the two points into a 100 equal intervals. Each
interval has a value of 1◦C
Formula for finding unknowns in thermometer:
l ϑ−l 0
ϑ=
l 100 −l 0

Thermocouple
Pros:
 Large temperature range
 Very responsive
 Doesn't melt at high temperature

ε /V =∆ ϑ

Temperature can be determined by comparing the emf reading with the

calibrated values for the ice and steam points.