What is the difference between heat and temperature?
First, let’s understand the difference between heat and temperature. The Temperature and Heat are interchangeable; they are related to each other but have different concepts. The matter is composed of molecules or particles that are in motion. Whether it is moving, rotating, vibrating, or in active motion.
Let us discuss the difference between the temperature versus heat
Now to understand what is heat vs. what is temperature, let’s learn more about its definition with examples.
What is Heat?
Heat is nothing but a form of energy, like any form of energy which is able to work. It makes the molecules in a substance move.
Heat can change the state of a substance, such as from solid to liquid. Heat is the sum of all energy present of a material substance in all the molecules. The larger the substance, there is a presence of a larger molecule, and hence, the heat is greater. Heat cannot be directly measured. The temperature, mass, and the type of substance must be known.
What is Temperature?
On the other hand, the temperature is a measure of the average energy present in the molecules of the substance. It is not any form of energy. It cannot do work. It is generally measured with a thermometer. The measuring unit of temperature is often read in degrees Celsius(symbol as Co), degree Fahrenheit (symbol as Fo), or in Kelvin.
Example of temperature versus heat
Let us consider a bathtub of water and a bucket filled with water. If we keep a thermometer, then each will show that they have an equal temperature. It means that the water molecules present in each container are moving in an equal amount. But the bathtub contains more heat due to the presence of more particles in it.
Now, let us consider two pots, one pot contains boiling water, and the other one contains cold water. There is the same amount in each one. Thermometers show they have different temperatures. The boiling water includes an equal number of molecules as the cold water. But the particles are moving faster. It means that the boiling water has a higher temperature and hence, more heat.
Let us consider that there are a huge iceberg and a pot of boiling water. The container has a higher temperature than the iceberg. It is because the iceberg has more heat than the container of boiling water.
Heat always gets transferred from hot to cold objects. If the two objects are in contact with each other at the same temperature, then heat will not get transferred due to the average energy of molecules is the same. But, if one object has a high temperature, it means that the particles are moving faster, and energy will transfer to cold objects until they reach the same temperature. Also, if particles will have the same average energy, then energy will get transferred.