UNIVERSITY OF

EDUCATION, WINNEBA
DEPARTMENT OF
PHYSICS EDUCATION
PHY 121– HEAT AND THERMODYNAMICS 1
 TEMPERATURE SCALES
• Scale of temperature is a way to measure temperature
quantitatively. The five types of temperature scales are:
• Celsius (centigrade) scale
• Kelvin (absolute / thermodynamic) scale
• Fahrenheit scale
• Rankine scale
• Reumur scale
However, the first three are the commonest scales, and they would be
our focus.
 FIXED POINTS
• A thermometer is useless without a temperature scale (the markings on the
thermometer).
Fixed Points
• Fixed points are used in calibrating thermometers. To calibrate a thermometer
is to mark a thermometer so that you can use it to measure temperature
accurately. A fixed point is a standard degree of hotness or coldness such as the
melting point of ice or boiling point of water.
• This method of using two fixed points to calibrate a thermometer assumes that
temperature changes linearly with the thermometric property. This means that
the physical property (that is chosen) changes evenly and regularly with
temperature and if we draw a graph of temperature against the thermometric
property, we should get a straight-line graph.
 Centigrade Scale - Fixed Points

The two fixed points used in the Centigrade scale are:

•Steam point (upper fixed point) – The temperature at which
pure water boils at one atmospheric pressure and is assigned
the value of 100 °C.
•Ice point (lower fixed point) – The temperature at which pure
ice melts at one atmospheric pressure and is assigned the value
of 0 °C.

For the Centigrade scale, the distance between the ice point
and the steam point is divided into 100 equal parts. Each
mark on the thermometer is a measure of 1 °C.
 Determination of ice point
• The bulb of the thermometer is immersed
into a container filled with pure melting ice.
In order to ensure that the contact between
the bulb and ice is good, ice shavings can be
used.

• When the level indicated by the

thermometric substance remains steady
after some time, a mark will be made at that
point. This mark will corresponds to the ice
point (lower fixed point) and is assigned the
value of 0 °C.
Determination of steam point
• The bulb of the thermometer should be placed
into a container filled with pure boiling water OR
placed just above the container (such that it is in
contact with the emerging steam). It is important
to ensure that the pressure of the
environment/room is the same as the atmospheric
pressure outside of the environment/room.
Different atmospheric conditions will result in the
thermometer showing different/wrong
temperature readings.
• When the level indicated by the thermometric
substance remains steady after some time, a mark
will be made at that point. This mark will
corresponds to the steam point (upper fixed point)
and is assigned the value of 100 °C.
Calculation of temperature on Centigrade scale:
• Use an unmarked mercury thermometer
• Place the thermometer just above pure boiling water(upper fixed point) and
record its length of mercury thread, l100°, from a reference level (such as base of
the reservoir). Repeat the same for the pure melting ice (lower fixed point) and
record its length of mercury thread, l0°.
• Now place the same thermometer in an unknown temperature, θ°C and record
its length of mercury thread, lθ°.
• The temperature θ°C can be calculated by simple proportion:

• Note: X is the thermometric property which varies uniformly with temperature.

In the case of a laboratory thermometer or clinical thermometer, X will be the
length of the mercury thread.
From the illustration,

100
•

•
•

0
Calculating Temperature In Celsius On An Ungraduated Thermometer
In order to calculate the true temperature on an ungraduated thermometer,
which is marked with the lower and upper fixed points, the following techniques
are used.
1. Measure the difference in temperature between the lower and upper fixed
points say y cm.
2. Measure the length of mercury thread above the lower fixed point say x cm.
3. Calculate the true temperature form the expression,
 Worked Examples
1. The distance between the upper fixed point and the lower fixed point of a
thermometer is 25 cm. What temperature in is recorded when the thread is
10 cm above the ice point?
(40 )

2. A thermometer is found to indicate 90 at the upper fixed point and 5 at the

lower fixed point. If the temperature indicated by the thermometer is 30 .
Calculate the length of the mercury thread above the lower fixed point.

(25.5 cm)
 TUTORIALS
1. The readings of a resistance thermometer are 20.0 Ω at ice point, 28.2 Ω at steam point and
23.1 Ω at an unknown temperature. Calculate the unknown temperature on the Celsius scale.
• 37.8

2. The pressure of a gas thermometer was 800 mmHg at ice point, 1200 mmHg at steam point
and 1000 mmHg at the temperature of the liquid. What is the temperature of the liquid?
• 50.0

• A certain platinum resistance thermometer has a resistance of 2.40 Ω at 0, 3.34 Ω at 100and

2.87 Ω at an unknown temperature.
a) evaluate this temperature on the platinum resistance scale.
b) what value of resistance would be expected at -2on this scale?
• A. 50
• B. 2.38 Ω
 ASSIGNMENT 1
• In an unmarked mercury thermometer, it was found experimentally that the
length was 5 cm and the length was 25 cm. What is the temperature when is
(i) 14 cm, (ii) 3 cm?

• The length of the mercury column in a non- calibrated mercury thermometer is

2cm when its bulb is immerse in melting ice and 20cm when the bulb is in
steam above boiling water. What would the temperature be if the length of the
mercury column is 11cm?

• An uncalibrated thermometer is attached to a centimetre scale and reads 5.0

cm in pure melting ice and 30.0 cm in steam. When the thermometer is
immersed in the liquid y, the length of the mercury column is 15.0 cm. What is
temperature of liquid y?
 Kelvin (Absolute) Scale
• The thermodynamic scale uses one fixed point known as the triple point of
water.
• The triple point of water is the temperature at which saturated water vapour,
pure water and ice all co-exist in equilibrium (at 0.01 °C).
• The unit for the Kelvin Scale is the Kelvin (K), which is the SI unit for
temperature. 1 K is defined as the of the temperature of the triple point of
water.
• Usually the properties of an ideal gas are employed in determining the absolute
temperature.
• Generally, materials contract as they cool. If an ideal gas ( gas in which the
particles occupy a tremendously large volume compared to their own size and
which do not interact) is cooled, it contracts in such a way that it occupies a
volume that is only the size of the molecules at -273.15. This temperature is
called the absolute zero, and is usually rounded to -273
• The kelvin temperature scale is based on absolute zero.
• Absolute zero has a thermodynamic temperature of OK.
• absolute zero is defined as the coldest possible temperature whereby all the
particle motion stops.
• Therefore
• You can convert temperature from Celsius scale (centigrade scale) to Kelvin
scale and vice versa by using the equation:

• The intervals on both Kelvin and Celsius scales are the same, such that a
difference of 1 K is equivalent to a difference of 1 °C.
 Kelvin (Absolute) Scale
• Temperature on the thermodynamic scale is can be defined as

• Where X is the thermometric property at the temperature of the substance

and is the thermometric property at the triple point temperature.
• Under the constant-volume gas thermometer, for example, the gas pressure is
measured at the triple point of water, 273.16 K. if the pressure is at an
unknown temperature T on the thermodynamic scale, then, by definition,
 THE GAS THERMOMETER
• Two thermometers made from different thermometric
substances can agree at 0 and 100 , but not agree exactly at
intermediate temperatures. This is because temperature
depends on the specific properties of the material used.

• A temperature scale that does not depend on the properties

of a particular material is said to be ideal.

The gas thermometer comes close to being ideal.

 CONSTANT-VOLUME GAS THERMOMETERS
• Thermometers are working examples of
the zeroth law of thermodynamics. The
significance of constant volume gas
thermometers is that they are used to
calibrate other thermometers.

• A constant volume gas thermometer is

composed of a bulb filled with a fixed
amount of a dilute gas that is attached to
a mercury manometer. A manometer is a
device used to measure pressure.
THE GAS THERMOMETER
 THE GAS THERMOMETER
• The gas thermometer operates with the principle that the pressure of a gas at
constant volume increases with temperature proportionally.
• To calibrate a constant-volume gas thermometer, we measure the pressures at
0 and 100 , plot these points on a graph and draw a straight line connecting
them.
• Since the graph is proportional (linear), the temperature corresponding to any
pressure can be read from the graph.
• By extrapolating this graph, we come to a hypothetical temperature (-273.15 )
at which the absolute pressure of the gas would become zero.
GRAPH OF ABSOLUTE PRESSURE (P) VERSUS TEMPERATURE
(T) FOR A CONSTANT-VOLUME GAS THERMOMETER.
On the Kelvin scale, the ratio of any two temperatures and is defined as the ratio
of the corresponding gas thermometer pressures and .

i.e., ( constant volume gas thermometer, T in Kelvin)

Hence, if is the pressure in a gas thermometer at triple temperature , and P is the

pressure at some other temperature T, then T is given on the kelvin scale by
Zero on the kelvin temperature scale (0 K) is made to coincide with the zero
pressure temperature on the gas thermometer,
• i.e.,
0 K = -273.15 ℃

Because the units on the kelvin scale are the same size as those on the Celsius
scale,
0 ℃ = 273.15K

∴ = + 273.15℃
 SELF-CHECK
• The pressure recorded by a constant volume gas
thermometer at a kelvin temperature is . Calculate T if the
pressure at the triple point of water is .

• Suppose a constant-volume gas thermometer has a pressure

of at the triple point of water, and a pressure of at some
unknown temperature T. What is T ?
 FURTHER PROBLEMS
1. The volume of a fixed mass of Hg at a temperature 0 measured on
the perfect gas scale is given by

where is the volume at 0 on the gas scale. Calculate the temperature

expected on a mercury thermometer when the gas scale temperature is
40.
For

(1+0.007272+0.00001280)
(1.007285)

For

Hence temperature on the mercury scale gives

= = = 39.9
2. The resistance of a certain wire at a Celsius
temperature t measured on the ideal gas scale is given
by

Where is the resistance at 0. what is the temperature

on the resistance scale using this wire, when the
temperature is 50 on the ideal gas scale?

45
3. A copper – constantan thermocouple with its cold junction
at 0 had an emf of with its other junction at 100. The emf
became when the temperature difference was 200. If the
emf, is related to the temperature difference, by the
equation

(a)Calculate the values of A and B.

(b)Up to what temperature may E be assumed proportional
to without incurring an error of more than 1%?
and,

Multiplying (1)2 gives

Subtracting (3) from (2) gives

Substituting B into (1) gives

(b) The variation from linearity will only depend on the second term which is
exponential. Per the given condition, should not contribute to an error of more
than 1% in E.
i.e., if

But
The resistance of a wire at a temperature measured on
a standard scale is given by

A is a constant. When the thermometer is at a

temperature of 50 on the standard scale, what will be
the temperature indicated on the resistance scale?
4. The emf E obtained from a chrome-constantan thermocouple is 6.32mV at
100 and 24.91mV at 600. If E is related to the Celsius temperature by , show
that the temperature when E = 16.4mV is approximately 300.

5. The volume of a certain liquid varies with temperature according to the

relation
, where is the volume at o, and V the volume at t on the scale of a gas
thermometer, where a and b are constants with . What will be the liquid
thermometer reading if the gas thermometer reads 50?
[47.7]