Temperature and Celsius

Most recent answer: 10/22/2007

Q:
Definge teemperture? Name two points celcius is based on?
- basil khalousi (age 13)
GlenBrook Middle School, new westminster.bc .canda
A:
Basil -

Temperature is a way of measuring how fast the particles in something are moving. ’Particles’ are really little bits of stuff - like atoms or molecules. If the particles are moving slowly enough, they will even get stuck together and turn into a solid. And if they go quickly enough, they will fly apart and become a gas. The faster the particles are moving, the higher the temperature will be.

The Celsius system is based on the freezing and boiling points of water. Water is a liquid, and like I was saying, if the particles slow down enough, it will turn into ice (a solid). This is called freezing. Every substance freezes at a different temperature (the ’freezing point’), and the Celsius system was made up by saying that water freezes at 0 degrees. But if you heat the water up, the particles will be moving so fast that they can’t stick together at all, turning the water into steam (a gas). This temperature is called the ’boiling point,’ and for Celcius, they decided to make it so that the boiling point of water is 100 degrees.

-Tamara

(published on 10/22/2007)