Physics Form 4

Chapter 4 : Heat

Thermal Energy, Heat And

Temperature

Heat is the flow of thermal energy.

Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy
which each molecule of an object possesses.

Temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity which measures the
degree of hotness of an object.
Temperature is a measure of theaverage kinetic
energywhich each molecule of an object possesses.
One object is at a higher temperature than another if
the average kinetic energy of each of its molecules is
greater.
The SI unit of temperature is Kelvin, K.

Differences between Thermal Energy and Temperature

Thermal Energy

Temperature

A form of Energy

Degree of hotness of an object.

Unit: Joule (J)

Unit: Kelvin (K)/ Degree Celsius

(oC)

Sum of the kinetic energy and

potential energy of the
particles.

Average kinetic energy of the

particles.

Derived quantity

Base quantity

Applications Of Thermal Equilibrium

oven
When food such as meat or cake is put in the oven, the
heat of the oven is transferred into the food.
This process will continue until the food is in thermal
equilibrium with the air in the oven.
This happen when the temperature of the food is equal
to the temperature of the air in the oven

Refrigerator

When food is put in the refrigerator, the heat from the

food is transferred into the air of the refrigerator.
This process is continued until the temperature of the
food equal to the temperature of the air in the
refrigerator, when thermal equilibrium is reached
between the food and the refrigerator.

Thermometer
Thermometer is placed in contact with the patients
body.
If both the body temperature of the patient and that of
the mercury (or alcohol) in the clinical thermometer
have reached thermal equilibrium, then the
temperature of the thermometer is the same as the
body temperature, hence the reading of the
thermometer shows the body temperature of the
patient.

Liquid in Glass Thermometer

Liquid in glass thermometer works on the principle that

liquid expands as the temperature increases and
contracts as the temperature decreases.
The most commonly used liquids in such thermometers
are
Mercury
Alcohol

Calibrating A Thermometer

To calibrate a thermometer means to put the correct

mark of reading at the correct place so that other
temperature can be deduced from these marks.
To do this, two extreme points are chosen to mark its
scale and these points must be able to be reproduced
accurately.
Usually, we take the steam point of pure water as 100C
and the ice point of water as 0C

To calibrate a thermometer, the ice point

of water is usually taken to be0C

To calibrate a thermometer, the steam point

is taken to be 100C

4.After determining the position of the ice point and steam point, the
temperature of an object can be determined by using the formula: