Heat and temperature are two important factors that affect the world around us, but they are often confused or used interchangeably. However, heat and temperature are actually two different things!

Temperature is a measure of how hot or cold something is. It is usually measured in degrees, such as degrees Celsius or degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy, or movement, of the particles in a substance. The faster the particles are moving, the higher the temperature will be.

Heat is the energy that is transferred from one body to another as a result of a difference in temperature. In other words, heat is what is transferred from a hotter body to a cooler body. Heat is measured in units of energy, such as calories or joules.

Heat and temperature are related, but they are not the same thing. For example, a cup of hot water and a cup of cold water can have the same temperature, but the hot water has more heat because the particles in it are moving faster and have more energy. On the other hand, two objects can have different temperatures but the same amount of heat if they have the same number of particles and the same average kinetic energy.

Heat and temperature can also affect each other. For example, if you add heat to a substance, its temperature will rise. On the other hand, if you remove heat from a substance, its temperature will fall. This is why we feel colder on a cold day: the heat is being transferred from our bodies to the cold air around us.

But what are these particles?
All matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Like LEGO structures are made from tiny building blocks. But atoms are so small that we cannot see them, even with the most powerful optical microscopes. Everything from cups to air is made of different atoms.

Atoms are constantly moving and vibrating, and the way they move and vibrate changes depending on the temperature of the matter they are in.

When the temperature of a substance or object increases, the atoms that make up the substance or object start to move around more quickly. This happens because the heat energy is being transferred to the atoms, which makes them more energetic and causes them to move around more.

At a very high temperature, the atoms in a substance or object may start to break apart from each other and move around more freely. This can cause the substance or object to change its state from a solid to a liquid (such as when ice melts to become water), or from a liquid to a gas (such as when water boils to become steam). We’ll discuss this in another post! 🙂

A simple experiment about heat, temperature and transfer can be found here.