1 TEMPERATURE AND

THERMOMETRY 🌡
Temperature and Thermometry

Thinking and learning objectives

■ At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
■ understand temperature and different temperature scales;
■ construct your own temperature scale;
■ develop experience of using different thermometers.)
🧠 Brainstorming Questions

■ What is temperature?
■ How do you feel your environment? Is it hot or cold?
■ Do you feel the difference between hot and warm, cold
and cool? Are these words are accurate to describe the
temperature of an object?
■ How is temperature related to your life?.
 7.1 Temperature and Our Life

Thinking and learning objectives

At the end of this section , you should be able to:
• define temperature;
• describe the effect of temperature in your daily life;
• discuss the range of temperature difference from
equator to polar region of the Earth.
Temperature 🌡
■ Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy
of the particles in a system. For instance, the molecules
in a cup of ice-cold tea have on average less kinetic
energy than the molecules in a cup of hot tea.
■ Temperature has evolved from the common concepts
of hot and cold.
■ A key feature of our environment is the combination of
temperature and humidity that determines the heat
balance of human beings
■ Human beings are comfortable with temperature
between 18 C0 and 22 C0, particularly referred to as
room temperature.
7.2 Extreme Temperature Safety

Thinking and learning objectives

At the end of this section, you should be able to:
■ describe the comfortable environmental
temperature for human beings;
■ explain some safety precautions of extreme
temperature.
7.2 Extreme Temperature Safety

■ The human body has a normal temperature between 97oF (36.56oC) and
99oF (37.2oC), but on average, a normal body temperature is 98.6oF
(37oC).
■ To maintain this temperature without the help of warming or cooling
devices, the average temperature of the surrounding environment needs
to be at about 82oF(28oC).
■ In reality the temperature of the surrounding environment is rarely
28oC. It varies from time to time.
■ An environmental temperature over 130oF (54oC) often leads to heat
stroke.
7.3 Temperature Change and its Effects

Thinking and learning objectives

At the end of this section, you should be able to:
■ describe the average change in global temperature;
■ explain the major effects of higher temperature in
our community and environment;
■ list the causes for the temperature increment in our
environment;
■ list greenhouse gases that cause rise in temperature.
Temperature Change and its Effects cont’d

■ The natural warming of the Earth that results

when the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
water vapor and fluorinated gasses trap heat
from the sun is called greenhouse effect.
■ Naturallythe greenhouse effect is important to
warm the planet to its comfortable average
temperature (15C) and to keep life on Earth
 Temperature Change and its Effects cont’d

■ Higher temperatures mean that heat waves are

likely to happen more often and last longer, too.
■ Heat waves can be dangerous, causing illnesses
such as heat cramps and heat stroke, or even
death
■ Green house effect : The warming of earth's
atmosphere due to the infrared radiations
reflected by low lying clouds and carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere of earth
■
Temperature Change and its Effects cont’d

■ Warmer temperatures can also lead to a chain

reaction of other changes around the world.
■ This is because increasing air temperature also
affects the oceans, weather patterns, snow and
ice, and plants and animals.
■ The warmer it gets, the more severe the impacts
on people and the environment will be.
7.4 Measuring Temperature with Different Thermometric
Scales

Thinking and learning objectives

At the end of this section, you should be able to:
• define thermometer;
• explain how thermometer works;
• describe different temperature scales;
• design temperature scales using local materials.
Brainstorming Questions

Which temperature scales do you come across

in your life? Which scale do physicians use to
measure your body temperature?
Thermometric Scales
■ Thermometer is a device used to measure the
temperature of a body. It measures temperature
in degrees.
■ In designing a thermometer, two temperatures
of a body are marked on it as fixed points.
I. lower fixed point (melting point of ice) and

II. upper fixed point (boiling point of water) at

sea level.
 The Celsius Scale

■ The Celsius scale or centigrade scale was devised by the

Swedish astronomer,Anders Celsius (1701-1744).
■ He assigned the value 0oC (0 degree Celsius) to the ice
point of water and 100oC(100 degree Celsius) to the
steam point or boiling point of water.
■ By dividing the space between the two fixed points into
100 equal parts a Celsius scale is determined. Each unit
or division is called degree (o)
The Fahrenheit Scale
■ The Fahrenheit scale was designed by the German scientist Daniel
Fahrenheit.
■ He assigned 32oF (32 degrees Fahrenheit)to the ice point of water and
212oF (212 degrees Fahrenheit) to the steam point or boiling point of
water.
■ Since the difference between the ice point and boiling point is 180; one
can obtain the Fahrenheit scale by dividing the space between the two
fixed points into 180 equal parts.
■ Temperature in Fahrenheit scale is denoted by oF, read as degrees
The Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales.
The Kelvin Scale

■ Kelvin scale was designed by Scottish physicist Lord Kelvin (1824 - 1907).
■ He assigned 273.15 to ice point and 373.15 to boiling point.
■ By dividing the space between the two fixed points into 100 equal parts Kelvin scale is obtained.
The SI unit for temperature is kelvin.
■ Its symbol is K (Note: No degree sign is used with the unit kelvin). This scale is used commonly
for scientific works and has greater scientific significance.
■ Experiments have shown that there exists a lowest possible temperature below which no
substance can be cooled thus , this lowest temperature is defined to be the zero point on the
Kelvin scale (0 K or -273.15 oC) and is referred to as absolute zero.
■ Absolute zero: the temperature at which a substance has no thermal energy
■ Of these three temperature scales, only the Kelvin scale is based on a true zero value of
temperature. The Celsius and Fahrenheit scales are based on an arbitrary zero associated with
one particular substance, water, on one particular planet, the Earth
6.6 Conversion between Temperature Scales

Thinking and learning objectives

At the end of this section, you should be able to:
• convert temperature in degree Celsius scale to temperature in Fahrenheit scale and vice versa;
• convert temperature in degree Celsius scale to temperature in Kelvin scale and vice versa;
• convert temperature in degree Fahrenheit scale to temperature in Kelvin scale and vice versa.
Scale conversion
Scale conversion
Scale conversion
■ A temperature difference of one degree on the Celsius scale is 1.8
times as large as a difference of one degree on the Fahrenheit scale,

■ Temperature differences are the same in units of kelvins and degrees

Celsius, or
 Example
1. If the temperature of the surrounding is 50oF, what is the temperature in
a. degreecelsius?
b. Kelvin
2. The temperature of a room is 20oC. What is the
temperature of the room in
a. degree Fahrenheit?
b. Kelvin
3. The temperature of a hot metal is 573.15 K.
What is the value of this temperature in
a. degree Celsius scale?
b. Fahrenheit
7.5 Types of Thermometers and Their Use

Thinking and learning objectives

At the end of this section, you should be able to:
• list different types of thermometers;
• describe the uses of different thermometers.
Brainstorming Question

What are the thermometric properties of

mercury thermometer, alcohol thermometer,
thermocouple, resistance thermometer
and radiation thermometer?
Types of Thermometers and Their Use

All thermometers make use of the change in

some physical property with temperature.
1. Mercury Thermometer

■ With changes in temperature, the mercury

expands and contracts and the temperature can
be read from the scale
■ It is suitable to measure temperature between
-30 degree Celsius and 300 degree Celsius.
2. Alcohol Thermometers

■ Utilizes the expansion and contraction of

alcohol in response to temperature changes to
measure the temperature.
■ Alcohol thermometers are used to measure
temperature from -115oC to 78.15 oC.
3. Resistance Thermometer

■ Electrical resistance thermometers are often

made from platinum wire, because platinum.
has excellent mechanical and electrical.
properties in the temperature range.
from -270oC to +700oC.
■ The resistance of platinum wire is known as a function
of temperature.
■ The temperature of a substance can be determined by
placing the resistance thermometer in thermal contact
with the substance and measuring the resistance of the
wire.
 4. Thermocouple
■ used extensively in scientific laboratories.
■ The thermocouple generates a voltage that depends on
the difference in temperature between the two junctions.
This voltage is the thermometric property and is
measured by a voltmeter,
■ With the aid of calibration tables, the temperature of the
hot junction can be obtained from the voltage.
Thermocouples are used to measure temperatures as high
as 2300 oC or as low as -270oC
5. Thermistor
■ A thermistor is a resistance thermometer, or
a resistor whose resistance is dependent on
temperature. The term is a combination of
’thermal’ and ’resistor’.
■ It is made of metallic oxides, pressed into a
bead, disk, or cylindrical shape and then
encapsulated with an impermeable material
such as glass.
 Thermistor
There are two types of thermistors:
a. Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC): when the
temperature increases, resistance decreases Conversely,
when temperature decreases, resistance increases.(mostly
used)
b. Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC): When
temperature increases, the resistance increases, and when
temperature decreases, resistance decreases thus , this
type of thermistor is generally used as a fuse.
■ a thermistor achieves high precision within a limited
temperature range of about 50oC around the target
temperature. This range is dependent on the
base resistance
6. Radiation Thermometers

■ use the electromagnetic radiation from a body to

be measured
■ The temperature can thus be determined by
measuring the radiation, and there is a clear
advantage that all the detecting equipments is.
remote from the hot body.
 7.7 Thermal Expansion of Materials

■ Thermal expansion, which is the change in size or

volume of a given system as its temperature changes
■ In general, when matter is heated it expands and when
cooled it contracts.
■ According to the kinetic theory the molecules of solids
and liquids are in constant vibration. When heated they
vibrate faster and force each other a little further apart.
 Brainstorming Questions
What is the underlying cause of thermal expansion?
Ans:increased kinetic energy (increasedtemperature)
increases the average distance between molecules—the
substance expands
 Linear Thermal Expansion
■ The linear (length) expansion of solids is small and for the effect to be
noticed, the solid must be long and/or the temperature change must be large.
■ According to experiments, the dependence of thermal expansion on
temperature, substance, and original initial length is summarized in the
equation
■ Suppose an object has an initial length Li along some direction at
some temperature and the length changes by an amount DL for a
change in temperature DT.
■ Because it is convenient to consider the fractional change in length per
degree of temperature change, we define the average coefficient of
■ linear expansion as:

■ Experiments show that a is constant for small changes in temperature.

For purposes of calculation, this equation is usually rewritten as
■ where Lf is the final length, Ti
and Tf are the initial and final temperatures,
respectively, and the proportionality constant a
is the average coefficient of linear expansion for
a given material and has units of (C 0 )
 Linear Thermal Expansion

■ The percentage change in length during thermal expansion can be expressed using the formula:

ΔL/L0% =α ΔTx100%

where:

● ( ΔL ) represents the change in length of the material.

● ( L0 ) is the initial length of the material.
● ( α) is the coefficient of linear expansion for the material.
● ( ΔT ) is the change in temperature.
● The coefficient of linear expansion, ( α ) , depends on the material and is typically given in units of ( 1/°C ) or ( 1/k
)
For example, if you have a rod with an initial length of ( L0 = 1m) , and a coefficient of linear expansion ( α = 2 x 10-5 °
C-1), and the temperature increases by (ΔT = 50 °C), then compute:
A. the change in length would be:
B. the percentage change in length would be:
 Example
1. The highest tower in the world is the steel radio
mast of Warsaw Radio in Poland, which has a
height of 646 m. How much does its height
increase between a cold winter day when the
temperature is 35 C and a hot summer day when
the temperature is 35 C?
2. A thin rod of gold has a length of 1.5×10−1 m at a
temperature of 27 oC. The rod falls into a sink of
hot water whose temperature is 49 oC. What is
the change in the length of the gold rod?
Example
3. The initial length of a brass rod is 50 cm at a temperature of 25oC. What
will be its final length when it is heated to a temperature of 70oC?
4. Calculate the increase in length of a 2m copper rod that is heated
from 0oC to 150oC?
5. The temperature varies from 25oC to 38 oC yearly in Afar region. A
concrete side walk is constructed between two buildings when the
temperature is 25oC. A sidewalk consists of one concrete slab of
length 3m with negligible thickness. What amount of empty space
should be provided to protect the concrete from bending?