Temperature

Temperature
 We associate the concept of
temperature with how hot or cold an
objects feels
 Our senses provide us with a qualitative
indication of temperature
 Our senses are unreliable for this
purpose
 We need a technical definition of
temperature
Thermal Contact
 Two objects are in thermal contact
with each other if energy can be
exchanged between them
 The exchanges we will focus on will be in
the form of heat or electromagnetic
radiation
 The energy is exchanged due to a
temperature difference
Thermal Equilibrium
 Thermal equilibrium is a situation in
which two objects would not exchange
energy by heat or electromagnetic
radiation if they were placed in thermal
contact.
Thermal Equilibrium
Zeroth Law of
Thermodynamics
 If objects A and B are separately in
thermal equilibrium with a third object
C, then A and B are in thermal
equilibrium with each other
 Let object C be the thermometer
 Since they are in thermal equilibrium with
each other, there is no energy exchanged
among them
 Zeroth Law of
Thermodynamics, Example

 Object C (thermometer) is placed in contact with A until they

achieve thermal equilibrium
 The reading on C is recorded
 Object C is then placed in contact with object B until they
achieve thermal equilibrium
 The reading on C is recorded again
 If the two readings are the same, A and B are also in thermal
equilibrium
Temperature (Technical)
 Temperature can be thought of as the
property that determines whether an
object is in thermal equilibrium with
other objects
 Two objects in thermal equilibrium with
each other are at the same temperature
 If two objects have different temperatures,
they are not in thermal equilibrium with
each other
Ley Cero
 Dos sistemas están en equilibrio térmico
si y sólo si tienen la misma
temperatura.
Thermometers
 A thermometer is a device that is
used to measure the temperature of a
system
 Thermometers are based on the
principle that some physical property of
a system changes as the system’s
temperature changes
Thermometers, cont
 These properties include:
 The volume of a liquid
 The dimensions of a solid
 The pressure of a gas at a constant volume
 The volume of a gas at a constant pressure
 The electric resistance of a conductor
 The color of an object
 A temperature scale can be established on
the basis of any of these physical properties
 Termómetro Propiedad termométrica
Columna de mercurio, alcohol, etc.,
Longitud
en un capilar de vidrio
Gas a volumen constante Presión
Gas a presión constante Volumen
Termómetro de resistencia Resistencia eléctrica de un metal
Resistencia eléctrica de un
Termistor
semiconductor
Par termoeléctrico F.e.m. termoeléctrica
Pirómetro de radiación total Ley de Stefan - Boltzmann
Pirómetro de radiación visible Ley de Wien
Espectrógrafo térmico Efecto Doppler
Termómetro magnético Susceptibilidad magnética
Cristal de cuarzo Frecuencia de vibración
Thermometer, Liquid in Glass
 A common type
of thermometer is
a liquid-in-glass
 The material in
the capillary tube
expands as it is
heated
 The liquid is
usually mercury
or alcohol
Calibrating a Thermometer
 A thermometer can be calibrated by
placing it in contact with some natural
systems that remain at constant
temperature
 Common systems involve water
 A mixture of ice and water at atmospheric
pressure
 Called the ice point of water

 A mixture of water and steam in equilibrium

 Called the steam point of water
 Celsius Scale
 The ice point of water is defined to be 0o C
 The steam point of water is defined to be
100o C
 The length of the column between these
two points is divided into 100 increments,
called degrees
 Problems with Liquid-in-Glass
Thermometers
 An alcohol thermometer and a mercury
thermometer may agree only at the calibration
points
 The discrepancies between thermometers are
especially large when the temperatures being
measured are far from the calibration points
 The thermometers also have a limited range of
values that can be measured
 Mercury cannot be used under –30o C
 Alcohol cannot be used above 85o C
 Constant Volume Gas
Thermometer
 The physical change
exploited is the variation
of pressure of a fixed
volume gas as its
temperature changes
 The volume of the gas is
kept constant by raising
or lowering the reservoir
B to keep the mercury
level at A constant
Constant Volume Gas
Thermometer, cont
 The thermometer is calibrated by using
a ice water bath and a steam water
bath
 The pressures of the mercury under
each situation are recorded
 The volume is kept constant by adjusting A
 The information is plotted
Constant Volume Gas
Thermometer, final
 To find the
temperature of a
substance, the gas
flask is placed in
thermal contact with
the substance
 The pressure is
found on the graph
 The temperature is
read from the graph
 Absolute Zero
 The thermometer readings
are virtually independent of
the gas used
 If the lines for various
gases are extended, the
pressure is always zero
when the temperature is
–273.15o C
 This temperature is called
absolute zero
Absolute Temperature Scale
 Absolute zero is used as the basis of the
absolute temperature scale
 The size of the degree on the absolute
scale is the same as the size of the
degree on the Celsius scale
 To convert:
TC = T – 273.15
Absolute Temperature Scale, 2
 The absolute temperature scale is now
based on two new fixed points
 Adopted by in 1954 by the International
Committee on Weights and Measures
 One point is absolute zero
 The other point is the triple point of water
 This is the combination of temperature and
pressure where ice, water, and steam can all
coexist
Absolute Temperature Scale, 3
 The triple point of water occurs at
0.01o C and 4.58 mm of mercury
 This temperature was set to be 273.16
on the absolute temperature scale
 This made the old absolute scale agree
closely with the new one
 The units of the absolute scale are kelvins
 Absolute Temperature Scale, 4
 The absolute scale is also called the kelvin
scale
 Named for William Thomson, Lord Kelvin
 The triple point temperature is 273.16 K
 No degree symbol is used with kelvins
 The kelvin is defined as 1/273.16 of the
difference between absolute zero and the
temperature of the triple point of water
 Some Examples of Absolute
Temperatures
 The figure at right
gives some absolute
temperatures at which
various physical
processes occur
 The scale is logarithmic
 The temperature of
absolute zero cannot
be achieved
 Experiments have come
close
Energy at Absolute Zero
 According to classical physics, the kinetic
energy of the gas molecules would become
zero at absolute zero
 The molecular motion would cease
 Therefore, the molecules would settle out on the
bottom of the container
 Quantum theory modifies this and shows
some residual energy would remain
 This energy is called the zero-point energy
 Fahrenheit Scale
 A common scale in everyday use in the US
 Named for Daniel Fahrenheit
 Temperature of the ice point is 32oF
 Temperature of the steam point is 212oF
 There are 180 divisions (degrees)
between the two reference points
 Comparison of Scales
 Celsius and Kelvin have the same size
degrees, but different starting points
TC = T – 273.15
 Celsius and Fahrenheit have different
sized degrees and different starting points
9
TF  TC  32 F
5
Comparison of Scales, cont
 To compare changes in temperature
5
TC  T  TF
9
 Ice point temperatures
 0oC = 273.15 K = 32o F

 Steam point temperatures

 100oC = 373.15 K = 212o F