The degree hotness and coldness of a particular place is known as temperature.
In the most intuitive terms, temperature refers to how hot or cold something is. Learn more about temperature as a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in an object and test your knowledge with quiz questions.
Temperature Defined
Temperature is a measure of how hot or cold something is; specifically, a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in an object, which is a type of energy associated with motion. But how hot is hot, and how cold is cold? The terms hot and cold are not very scientific terms. If we really want to specify how hot or cold something is, we must use temperature. For instance, how hot is melted iron? To answer that question, a physical scientist would measure the temperature of the liquid metal. Using temperature instead of words, like hot or cold, reduces confusion.
Temperature Depends on the Kinetic Energy of Particles
All matter is made of particles - atoms or molecules - that are in constant motion. Because the particles are in motion, they have kinetic energy. The faster the particles are moving, the more kinetic energy they have. What does temperature have to do with kinetic energy? Well, as described in this figure, the more kinetic energy the particles of an object have, the higher is the temperature of the object.
gas particles
Temperature is an average measure. Particles of matter are constantly moving, but they don't all move at the same speed and in the same direction all the time. As we can see in this figure, the motion of the particles is random. The particles of matter in an object move in different directions, and some particles move faster than others. As a result, some particles have more kinetic energy than others. So what determines an object's temperature? An object's temperature is the best approximation of the kinetic energy of the particles. When we measure an object's temperature, we measure the average kinetic energy of the particles in the object.