Kelvin, Celsius, Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit In the 1700s, G. Daniel Fahrenheit developed a scale used by meteorologists for measuring surface temperature. The scale was named for the developer, and the unit of measure has become known as degree Fahrenheit (F°)

Celsius Also in the eighteenth century, a second scale was developed for measuring surface temperature; it became known as the Celsius scale. The unit of measure in the Celsius scale is the degree Celsius (C°)

Kelvin A third scale later developed for use by scientists became known as the Kelvin scale. This scale begins at absolute zero and is sometimes more convenient to use because it does not involve negative temperatures. (The word degree is not used in Kevin measure.)

Thermometers Scales Citizens of the United States primarily use the Fahrenheit scale, the rest of the world uses the Celsius scale, and scientist use either the Celsius or Kelvin scale. Since we can use three different scales to measure temperature, it seems reasonable to have formulas for changing or converting from one scale to the another. Here are some useful conversion formulas.

Conversion Formulas C° = (F° - 32°) ÷ 1.8 F° = 1.8 x C° + 32 K = C°+273

Atoms and Molecules Atom: the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element Molecule: is the smallest indivisible portion of a pure compound that retains a set of unique chemical and physical properties. A molecule consists of two or more atoms bonded together.

Molecular Motion All molecules are in constant motion. Molecules of a liquid have more freedom of movement than those in a solid. Molecules in a gas have the greatest degree of motion. Heat, temperature and the motion of molecules are all related. Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a material

Molecular Motion Heat is the energy transferred between materials that have different temperatures. Increasing the temperature increases the translational motion of molecules