Chapter 19

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
„ The thermal contact does not have to also
be physical contact
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
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
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 + 32D 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
Thermal Expansion
„ Thermal expansion is the increase in the size
of an object with an increase in its
temperature
„ Thermal expansion is a consequence of the
change in the average separation between
the atoms in an object
„ If the expansion is small relative to the
original dimensions of the object, the change
in any dimension is, to a good approximation,
proportional to the first power of the change
in temperature
Thermal Expansion, example
„ As the washer shown at
right is heated, all the
dimensions will increase
„ A cavity in a piece of
material expands in the
same way as if the cavity
were filled with the material
„ The expansion is
exaggerated in this figure
Linear Expansion
„ Assume an object has an initial length L
„ That length increases by ∆L as the
temperature changes by ∆T
„ We define the coefficient of linear
expansion as
∆L / Li
α=
∆T
„ A convenient form is ∆L = αLi ∆T
Linear Expansion, cont
„ This equation can also be written in
terms of the initial and final conditions
of the object:
„ Lf – Li = α Li (Tf – Ti)
„ The coefficient of linear expansion, α,
has units of (oC)-1
Linear Expansion, final
„ Some materials expand along one
dimension, but contract along another
as the temperature increases
„ Since the linear dimensions change, it
follows that the surface area and
volume also change with a change in
temperature
Volume Expansion
„ The change in volume is proportional to
the original volume and to the change
in temperature
„ ∆V = βVi ∆T
„ β is the coefficient of volume expansion
„ For a solid, β = 3α
„ This assumes the material is isotropic, the
same in all directions
„ For a liquid or gas, β is given in the table
Area Expansion
„ The change in area is proportional to
the original area and to the change in
temperature:
„ ∆A = 2αAi ∆T
Thermal Expansion, Example
„ In many situations,
joints are used to allow
room for thermal
expansion
„ The long, vertical joint
is filled with a soft
material that allows the
wall to expand and
contract as the
temperature of the
bricks changes
 Bimetallic Strip
„ Each substance has its
own characteristic
average coefficient of
expansion
„ This can be made use
of in the device
shown, called a
bimetallic strip
„ It can be used in a
thermostat
 Water’s Unusual Behavior
„ As the temperature
increases from 0oC to
4oC, water contracts
„ Its density increases
„ Above 4oC, water
expands with
increasing temperature
„ Its density decreases
„ The maximum density
of water (1.000 g/cm3)
occurs at 4oC
An Ideal Gas
„ For gases, the interatomic forces within
the gas are very weak
„ We can imagine these forces to be
nonexistent
„ Note that there is no equilibrium
separation for the atoms
„ Thus, no “standard” volume at a given
temperature
Ideal Gas, cont
„ For a gas, the volume is entirely
determined by the container holding the
gas
„ Equations involving gases will contain
the volume, V, as a variable
„ This is instead of focusing on ∆V
Gas: Equation of State
„ It is useful to know how the volume, pressure
and temperature of the gas of mass m are
related
„ The equation that interrelates these
quantities is called the equation of state
„ These are generally quite complicated
„ If the gas is maintained at a low pressure, the
equation of state becomes much easier
„ This type of a low density gas is commonly
referred to as an ideal gas
The Mole
„ The amount of gas in a given volume is
conveniently expressed in terms of the
number of moles
„ One mole of any substance is that amount of
the substance that contains Avogadro’s
number of constituent particles
„ Avogadro’s number NA = 6.022 x 1023
„ The constituent particles can be atoms or
molecules
Moles, cont
„ The number of moles can be
determined from the mass of the
substance: n = m /M
„ M is the molar mass of the substance
„ m is the mass of the sample
„ n is the number of moles
Gas Laws
„ When a gas is kept at a constant
temperature, its pressure is inversely
proportional to its volume (Boyle’s law)
„ When a gas is kept at a constant
pressure, its volume is directly
proportional to its temperature (Charles
and Gay-Lussac’s law)
Ideal Gas Law
„ The equation of state for an ideal gas
combines and summarizes the other gas laws
PV = nRT
„ This is known as the ideal gas law
„ R is a constant, called the Universal Gas
Constant
„ R = 8.314 J/mol · K = 0.08214 L · atm/mol · K
„ From this, you can determine that 1 mole of
any gas at atmospheric pressure and at 0o C
is 22.4 L
Ideal Gas Law, cont
„ The ideal gas law is often expressed in terms
of the total number of molecules, N, present
in the sample
„ PV = nRT = (N/NA) RT = NkBT
„ kB is Boltzmann’s constant
„ kB = 1.38 x 10-23 J/K
„ It is common to call P, V, and T the
thermodynamic variables of an ideal gas