What Is Temperature?

Molecules in motion

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Temperature measures the average kinetic energy of molecular motion.
• Kelvin: $T_\text{K} = T_\text{°C} + 273.15$. Absolute zero is 0 K.
• Ratios of temperatures only make sense in kelvin.

Steps

1. Cold metal
2. Molecules in motion
3. The Kelvin scale
4. Convert
5. Energy of a molecule
6. Twice as hot?