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3/7/2017 LabIII6:Temperature

iePhysics

ExperimentIII6

Temperature
Weareallfamiliarwithhotandcoldbecauseofnervesensorswhichdetectthegainorlossofheatfrom
ourskin.Butthosesensorsonlyprovidearoughestimateofhowhotorcoldoursurroundingsare.To
morepreciselymeasureofthedegreeofhotnessorcoldnessanumberofpeoplehaveinvented
instrumentsandaccompanyingdefinitions.

Generallyobjectsexpandwhentheyareheatedandcontract
whencooled.Differentmaterialshavedifferentratesof
expansion.Bycomparingtheexpansionoftwodifferent
materials,itispossibletoformulateameasureoftemperature.

Thefirstcommonlyusedtemperaturescalesweredevisedto
measuretheweather.In1701,theDanishOleChristensenRmer
(b1644,d1710,portraitright)createdoneofthefirstpractical
thermometersusingredwineinaglasscontainer.Foragiven
temperaturerise,thewineexpandsmorethantheglasssothatthewine's
meniscusinthenarrowneckofaglasscontainerwillrisenoticeably.
Rmercreatedatemperaturescalefortheneckoftheglasscontainersuch
thatwiththethermometerimmersedinamixtureofsaltandice,the
meniscuswasmarkedaszeroandwheninboilingwater,itwasmarkedas
60.

DanielGabrielFahrenheit(b1686,d1736,portraitatleft)devotedmostofhislifeto
creatingprecisionmeteorologicalinstrumentsinAmsterdam.AftermeetingRmerin
Copenhagen,in1714Fahrenheitsubstitutedmercuryinhisglassthermometer.
Fahrenheitthoughtitwouldbepracticaltouseascaleinwhich0correspondedwiththe
coldesttemperaturenormallyencounteredand100correspondedtothehottest
temperature.Fahrenheit,beinganinstrumentmanufacturerrealizedtheimportanceof
notonlychoosingtwoeasilyobtainablecalibrationtemperatures,butascalewhich
couldbemarkedbyrepeateddivisionofthespacebetweenthecalibration
temperatures.Heinitiallyusedamixtureofsaltandiceas0andthetemperatureofthehumanbody
(heldinthemouthorunderthearmpitofalivingmaningoodhealth)avalueof96.(Onedegreeisobtainedby
dividingtheseparationinhalf5times,andbythreeonce.)Fahrenheitlaterincreasedtherangeofhistemperature
scalebyassigningboilingpointofwateravalueof212.

RneAntoineFerchaultdeRamur(b1683,d1757)createdin1731ascaleinwhich0representedthe
freezingpointofwaterand80representeditsboilingpoint.TheRamurtemperaturescalebecame
popularinFrance.

In1742,SwedishAndersCelsius(b1701,d1744,portraitatleft)createdaninvertedcentigrade
temperaturescaleinwhich0representedtheboilingpointofwaterand100representedthefreezing
point.TwoyearslaterCarlLinnaeus(b1707,d1778)suggestedreversingCelsius'temperaturescaleso
that0representedthefreezingpointofwaterand100representeditsboilingpoint.Thecentigradescale
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wasadoptedlargelybecauseofapaperbyCelsius,Observationsontwo
persistentdegreesonathermometer,suggestingtheimportanceofreliable
calibrationtemperatures,andreportedonexperimentsshowingthatthe
freezingpointofwaterisindependentoflatitudeandatmosphericpressure.
Celsiusalsodeterminedthedependenceoftheboilingofwateron
atmosphericpressure,andgavearuleforthedeterminationoftheboiling
pointifthebarometricpressuredeviatesfromastandardpressure.Asa
resultthecentigradetemperaturescalegraduallybecamepopularthroughout
theworld.Theunitsofthecentigradetemperaturescaleweredesignated
degreecentigrade(C).

Overacenturylater,WilliamThomson(Baron
KelvinofLargs,LordKelvinofScotland,b1824,d1907,photographright)proposed
in1848athermodynamictemperaturescalewhichassigned0tothetheoretical
coldestpossibletemperature,thermodynamicabsolutezero,andusedaunitsize
equaltoonedegreecentigrade.HisscalewaslaternamedtheKelvinscale(K).

Creatingasimilarabsolutetemperaturescaletoaccompanythethemmore
commonFahrenheitscale,WilliamJohnMacquornRankine(b1820,d1872)
proposedin1859ascalewith0asabsolutezero,butusedtheFahrenheitdegree
foritsunitsize.ThisRankinescaleisdenotedbythesymbolR.

In1948,theNinthGeneralConferenceonWeightsandMeasuresrename
centigradescaletoCelsius(C)inhonorofAndersCelsius.In1954,theTenthGeneralConference
onWeightsandMeasuresselectedthedegreeKelvinasthemetricunitofthermodynamictemperature.
TheconferencedefinedthedegreeKelvinbyassigningtheexactvalue273.16Ktothetriplepointof
water(wheregas,liquid,andsolidphasesmaycoexistinthermodynamicequilibrium).In1967,theThirteenth
GeneralConferenceonWeightsandMeasuressimplifieddegreeKelvin(K)tojustKelvin(K).The
conferenceredefinedCelsiustemperatureasthethermodynamictemperatureminus273.15Kelvin.

butwhatistemperature?

Knowinghowtomeasuresomethingisn'taguaranteethatyouhaveevenafoggynotionofwhatisbeing
measured!Whiletemperatureseemedrelatedtowhatwefeelaswarmorcold,thecauseofthatwarmth
orcoldremainedobscureuntilacarefulNewtoniananalysisofatomictheory.Andthatrequiredsome
confidencethatthischemistryactuallydescribedreality.Recallthatchemistryevolvedoutofthesecret
witchcraftofPersian,Arab,andEgyptianalchemistsratherthantheobservations,mathematicsand
Greeklogicusedbyphysics.Untilthe1905mathematicalanalysisofBrownianmotionbyAlbert
Einstein,someprominentphysicistsregardedatomsasachemist'sunsupportedfantasy.Butbythe
middleofthe19thCentury,somephysicistsbeganconsiderationofthephysicalimplicationsofwhat
becameknownasthekineticmoleculartheory(=theoryofmovingcollectionsofatoms).

ThekineticmoleculartheorywasoriginatedanddevelopedbyRobertBoyle(b1627,d1691),Daniel
Bernoulli(b1700,d1782),JamesJoule(b1818,d1889),A.Kronig(b1822,d1879),RudolphClausius
(b1822,d1888),andClerkMaxwell(b1831,d1879).Itwasfoundexperimentallythatthetemperature
ofagas(usingtheabsoluteKelvinorRankinscales),T,dependsonthegaspressure,p,containervolume,V,
andnumberofcontainedmolecules,n,by
pV=nRT.
Risaconstantrequiredbecausewearbitrarychooseallmeasurementunits.(Thisisjustlikeifwewantto
measureshorttimesinsecondsandlongtimesinhours,thenfindtherethereisamathematicalrelationbetweenboth:we
findweneedtomultiplethehoursbytheconstant,3600,toobtaintheequivalentamountofseconds.)
J.WillardGibbs(b1839,d1903,photoatleft)andLudwigBoltzmann(b1844,d1906,photoatleft)
helpedcreatestatisticalmechanicswhichincludedthermodynamicsexplainingsuchpropertiesas

temperature.Theyassumedthatpressureis
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temperature.Theyassumedthatpressureis
duetothechangeofmomentaofmolecules
strikingthecontainerwalls.Sincemolecules
arerandomlymovinginthreedimensions,the
calculationcombinedthetimebetween
collisions(determinedby1/3oftherootmean
squarespeed),andmomentachange(twicethe
averagespeedtimesthetotalmassgivenbyntimes
moleculemass,M).
pV=2/3(1/2nMv 2),orbysubstitution
rms
1/2Mvrms2=3/2RT.
Theleftsideoftheequationissimplythe
calculationoftheenergyofmotionofthe
molecules,andtherightsideisthegas
temperature,adjustedbyconstantsforthethreedimensionalgeometryofourspace,theamount
momentumchangeswhenthingsperfectlybounce,andourarbitrarychoiceofunits.Sowehavearrived
attheconclusionthatabsolutetemperatureisameasureoftheaveragekineticenergyofthe
randomlymovinggasmolecules.

Experiment
Wehavediscoveredorcreatedavarietyofdevicesthatrespondtovariationsintemperaturethatcanbe
adaptedtoobserveandmeasuretemperature.

Mostmaterialsexpandtolargersizewhentheygetwarmer.Aliquidwithalargerateof
expansioncanbeplacedinacontainerwithalowrateofexpansionsuchasglass.Thetop
surface(meniscus)willriseinthecontainerasthematerialswarms.Thechangecanbe
exaggeratedbyusingmoreliquidbuthavingaverynarrowneckonthecontainer.

Ascalecanbemarkedonthenecktoallowmeasurementsthatcanbecomparedwiththose
fromotherlocationsandtimes.Onesuchscalemarkszeroatthetemperatureofmeltingice,and100at
thetemperatureofboilingwater.ThiswasoncecalledtheCentigradescale,buthasbeenrenamedthe
Celsiusscaleinhonorof....Celsius.

Somelayeredsemiconductorcrystalsallowsmallamountsofelectricalcurrenttoflow.Thiselectricity
canbemeasuredasthecurrentflow(Amperage)ortheenergydrivingtheflow(Voltage).

Wecangainassuranceofthevalueofourdevicesbycomparingtheresultsofonedevicethattheresults
fromadifferentdevice.Thiscalibrationprocessisparticularlyvaluableformakinganewdeviceable
toprovidemeasurementsthatuseascalefamiliartous.

Procedures
1.Obtaintwoormoredevicesthatprovidevariationwithtemperature.Onedevicemightbeaglass
thermometer.Aseconddevicemightbeanelectronictemperaturesensororeventhetime
requiredforaspoonofsugartodissolvewhenstirredintoaglassorwater.Manyprocessesare
temperaturedependentandsocanbeutilizedfortemperaturemeasurement.

2.Placethedevicesinanenvironmentthatlikelyprovidesasteadytemperaturesuchasamixtureof
mostlycrushedicewithalittleliquidwater.Mostdevicestakesometimetoacclimatizetoanew
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temperaturesotakethatintoaccount.

3.Whenyouaresureyouhavearesultthatrepresentsthetemperature,recordtheresultsfromboth
devicesinatableinyoursciencejournal.

4.Placebothdevicesincommonenvironmentsatothertemperaturesandobtainmoremeasurements.

Informationcanbedisplacedinseveralways.Textnarrativeisusefulfordescribingproceduresoothers
couldduplicatewhatyoudid.Butnarrativesarenotveryusefulfornotingchangesininformationor
discoveringpatterns.Usuallyitismoreusefultorecordaseriesofmeasurementsinatable.Columns
canbelabeledwithrepetitiousinformationsuchaswhichdeviceprovidedtheinformationandthescale
units(suchasC,F,secondsorVolts).Rowscanbeusedtocollectrelatedmeasurementssuchasfrom
differentdeviceswhiletheywereatthesametemperature.

Agraphisavisualwaytopresentmeasurements(calleddata)thatbothrevealspatternsandfacilitates
findingmathematicalequationsthatpreciselydescribepatterns.Thisprocessiscalledcurvefitting.
Computerscanassistboththecollectionofmeasurementsandthedisplayandanalysisofthe
information.ThereareavarietyofdevicesfromcompanieslikeVernier,MicroLAB,Pasco,andTexas
Instrumentsthatcancollectinformationfromavarietyofelectronicsensors.Theymayimmediately
relayinformationtoamorecapablecomputer,orallowtransferlate.Vernier,MicroLAB,andoffer
computersoftwarethatarespecializedforgraphingandanalyzingthedata.Microsoftandother
companiesofferbusinessprogramssuchasExcelthatwillgraphandanalyzedata.Becausetheseare
designedforbusinessusessucharequarterlyreports,theygenerallyusedefaultsettingsthataremore
cumbersomeandneedtobechangedforthistypeofdata.(Seedirectionsongraphing.)

severalsimplemeasurements:

1.Gathertemperaturedatafromavarietyofsources:Whatisyourbodytemperature?Isthepalmof
yourhandthesametemperatureasyourfootortheinsideofyourelbow?

2.Whatistheroomtemperature?Istheroomtemperatureconstant?

3.Putatissuearoundthetemperaturesensitivepartoftheprobeandholdittherewitharubber
band.Wetthetissuewithwaterandnotethepattern.Isaconstantornearlyconstanttemperature
reached?Isitdifferentfromtheroomtemperature?Doesitmakeanydifferencewhetherthe
initialwaterwaswarmerorcolderthanroomtemperature?Doesitmakeanydifferenceifa
differentliquidisusedtowettheprobe?

4.Recordthemeasurementsinyoursciencejournalandwriteawrittenreport.(Readwhatareport
shouldinclude.)

patternsintemperaturechanges:

1.Connectthetemperatureprobetotheboxthatinterfaceswiththecomputer,connecttheinterface
boxwiththecomputer,thenstartthecomputer.Launchthesoftwaredesignedtocollectdata.(The
interfaceboxprovidesneededelectricitytopowertheprobe,receivedelectricalsignalsbackfromtheprobe,and
transmitsittothecomputerinanelectronicformatacceptabletothecomputer.)Oralternatively,obtainanyof
avarietyofothertemperaturemeasuringdevicesandpreparetomeasurethetemperatureatregular
intervalsoftime.

2.Measuretemperaturechangesthatoccurastimeprogressesofpurewatercoolinginacontainer
surroundedbyamixtureofdrainedcrushediceandtablesalt.
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3.Constructagraphoftemperatureversestime.

4.Noteifthewatercontinuouslycools.

5.Removethepurewaterfromthesalt/icemixtureandrecordandgraphthetemperatureofthepure
waterasitwarms.

measuringhightemperatures:

1.Thisisaninvestigationthatlimitsmeasurementtodevicesthatcanthemselvessurvivethehigh
temperature.ElectronictemperatureprobessuchasaresoldbycompanieslikeVernier,
MicroLAB,Pasco,andTexasInstrumentsareideal,butitisalsopossibletoconstructyourown
deviceifyouhaveawaytomeasuresmallchangesinVoltageorelectriccurrent.(Researchhowto
constructathermocouple!)Connectathermocoupletotheinstrumentamplifierinputssuchason
MicroLAB'sSensorAmplifierBoard.Eithermeasuretheoutputoftheinstrumentamplifier
sectiontoaportableVoltmeterortheMicroLABinterfaceboxconnectedtoacomputer.Measure
theVoltageanduseacalibrationtabletodeterminethetemperature.

2.Measurethetemperatureatvariouslocationsinaflame.

3.Determinethetemperaturesidewaysacrossaflameandupwardstotheregionaboveaflame.
Whereisthehighesttemperatureinaflame?

4.Recordyourresultsinyoursciencejournalandwriteareport.

5.Solidsglowathightemperaturesthisiscalledblackbodyradiation.Notethevisiblecolorat
varioustemperatures.

measuringsmalltemperatureeffects:

1.Thisisanotherinvestigationwhereelectronicdevicesdowell.Connectatemperaturesensorto
theinstrumentamplifierinputsofadevicesuchasMicroLAB'sSensorAmplifierBoard.Connect
avariablevoltagefromthebottomoftheboardtotheinvertinginput()oftheInstrument
Amplifier.Eithermeasuretheoutputoftheinstrumentamplifiersectiontoaportablevoltmeteror
theMicroLABinterfaceboxconnectedtoacomputer.

2.VarytheVoltagetoadjusttheoutputtozerothenturnontheamplifyingresistancetomakethe
temperaturesensormoresensitive.

3.MeasuretheVoltageandthepreviouscalibrationoftheprobetomeasuresmallchangesin
temperature.

4.Heatsofsolution.Measuresmallchangesintemperatureduetoadditionofsalts.Eitheruse
softwareoraninstrumentamplifieronaSensorAmplifierboardtoamplifythevoltage.

5.Measureheatsofreaction.Measuresmallchangesintemperatureduetovariouschemical
reactions.EitherusesoftwareoraninstrumentamplifieronaSensorAmplifierboardtoamplify
thevoltage.

Hopefullybythetimeyoureadthisyourealizethatthereareagreatmanyinvestigationswhichcanbe
doneinvolvingtemperaturemeasurement.Theaboveonlygiveafewsuggestionstoencourageyouto
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becreativeandtoformulateyourowninvestigation.Inallsituations,besuretoconsiderthehazards
whichmaybeinvolvedinyourinvestigationandtakeprecautionstoassuresafety.

Communicatingtechnicalinformationsuchasobservationsandfindingsisaskillusedbyscientistsbut
usefulformostothers.Ifyouneedcoursecredit,useyourobservationsinyourjournaltoconstruct
aformalreport.

References
MicroLABequipment
VernierEducationalSoftware&Equipment
PASCOscienceequipment
TexasInstrumentsequipment
thermocouplesatWikipedia
thermistors(anotherinexpensiveelectronicdevice)atWikipedia

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