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COLD
WARM
HOT
Solids can turn into liquids, and liquids can turn into gasses and back again - depending on the temperature. So, we can use the effect of heat on states of matter to measure the temperature of something.
VERY COLD
HOT
For example, a balloon filled with air shrinks as it gets cold, and expands as it gets hot. This is a very sensitive way of measuring temperature BUT its not very accurate because the size of a balloon also depends on other things like air pressure!
Liquids are less sensitive to temperature changes but are better than gasses they are hardly effected by air pressure!
Which is why we use coloured alcohol or mercury in most thermometers!
The start of the scale is at 0F which is the temperature of a mixture of equal parts of water, ice, and salt. And 212F is the top of the scale which is the boiling point of water. So the Fahrenheit scale has 212 degrees in it
The start of the scale is at 0C which is the temperature of the freezing point of water.
And 100C is the top of the scale which is the boiling point of water. So the Celsius scale has just 100 degrees in it!
99F 77F
37C 25C
32F
0C
For very hot temperatures people like blacksmiths use the way metal changes colour to estimate the temperature; For more normal temperatures liquid crystal displays can be used
Fixed Points
What do you think happens to ice and water at 0C and 100C?
Did you know that at 0C water turns into ice and ice turns into water but the temperature of a water ice mixture stays at 0C until all the ice has become water or all the water has become ice
The same is true at 100C water turns to steam, but the water stays at 100C until all the water has turned to steam
BUT some types of matter dont have certain states, for example dry ice (solid CO2 ) just goes from solid to gas on heating the solid DOESNT melt and become a liquid
This is because water is one of the few materials that expands when it freezes. This property of water is very important environmentally because if this didnt happen icebergs would sink to the bottom of the sea and cause the sea to freeze over!