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Similar to a question I had in physics class at school, which was quickly brushed aside by the teacher, who wanted to continue with the content: Why is temperat

Similar to a question I had in physics class at school, which was quickly brushed aside by the teacher, who wanted to continue with the content: Why is temperature one of the base units? Isn't temperature just movement as well? Nowadays I know I was more or less right. Just that 1 molecule moving hardly makes temperature and one probably needs a large number.

deleted 3y ago
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yyyk 3y ago
- The average movement of a solid is often zero, while its temperature is usually higher. - Movement has an implied direction even if we ignore it sometimes. Temperature does not. - A gas molecule can move a lot but have low temperature because it has little to collide with. It's more accurate to talk about vibration/collisions rather than movement.
- zelphirkalt 3y ago
  My idea back then was: What is vibration, other than movement of tiniest particles? But yes, maybe collision is what actually makes the temperature? Lets assume all the molecules where moving like they usually do, but for some insignificantly small chance, they do have no collisions for a few seconds. Would the object have a temperature?
  - yyyk 3y ago
    >What is vibration, other than movement of tiniest particles? Imagine a pendulum, moving back and forth. The average movement is zero! Even for different pendulums moving at different speeds. Vibration is a similar case. Obviously movement is not the most useful way to examine these systems, we want to look at other things too. Temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy involved. >maybe collision is what actually makes the temperature Kinetic energy is involved in both collisions and vibrations. >but for some insignificantly small chance, they do have no collisions for a few seconds We can compare to atomic fission, where the fission is also probabilistic - but the result is very predictable.

deleted 3y ago

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yyyk 3y ago

- The average movement of a solid is often zero, while its temperature is usually higher. - Movement has an implied direction even if we ignore it sometimes. Temperature does not. - A gas molecule can move a lot but have low temperature because it has little to collide with. It's more accurate to talk about vibration/collisions rather than movement.

zelphirkalt 3y ago
My idea back then was: What is vibration, other than movement of tiniest particles? But yes, maybe collision is what actually makes the temperature? Lets assume all the molecules where moving like they usually do, but for some insignificantly small chance, they do have no collisions for a few seconds. Would the object have a temperature?
- yyyk 3y ago
  >What is vibration, other than movement of tiniest particles? Imagine a pendulum, moving back and forth. The average movement is zero! Even for different pendulums moving at different speeds. Vibration is a similar case. Obviously movement is not the most useful way to examine these systems, we want to look at other things too. Temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy involved. >maybe collision is what actually makes the temperature Kinetic energy is involved in both collisions and vibrations. >but for some insignificantly small chance, they do have no collisions for a few seconds We can compare to atomic fission, where the fission is also probabilistic - but the result is very predictable.