Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a substance. Articles here explain temperature scales, heat transfer, and how temperature relates to the motion of atoms and molecules.
Introduction Real gases (e.g., air) behave like ideal gases under normal conditions. Consider two ideal gases: one made of very light atoms and another made of very heavy molecules. If the two gases are at the same temperature, they have the same average translational kinetic energy (Kavg). You may ask naturally then, “Do different gases…
What is temperature? It is a direct measurement of the average translational kinetic energy of an assembly of ideal gas molecules. The air around us behaves almost exactly like an ideal gas under normal conditions. Therefore, that definition applies directly to our everyday world. Two Equations Relating Temperature to Kinetic Energy The mathematical equation expressing…
When a parcel of air rises and expands, it is not losing heat to its environment. Instead, it spends its own energy to push other air out of the way. That spent energy is what we feel as a drop in temperature. This process is called adiabatic cooling. An adiabatic process is one that happens…