Temperature and Heat

Aims

To provide information and resources to support teachers in the following areas:

• the measurement of temperature by thermal imaging
• the importance of standard scales in measurement
• the relationship between temperature and heat
• the transfer of heat by conduction
• the distinction between temperature and the total energy contained in a body

Pupils should be able to:

• describe how hot and cold objects look different through a thermal imaging camera
• explain the difference between a comparative measurement and one that uses a standard scale
• explain how air and liquid thermometers work in terms of the particle theory
• explain how heat energy can move from a hot object to a cooler one in terms of the particle theory
• explain why a larger mass of a material contains more heat energy than a smaller mass at the same temperature

Key Vocabulary

centigrade
degree
energy transfer
heat
infra-red
particle
temperature
thermal
thermometer