Does knowing how hot you are make you feel better? No! In fact, you usually feel worse because you know how hot you are! So what's the difference between heat and temperature?
Heat and temperature are related, but they aren't exactly the same. Heat is the total energy of the molecules crashing into each other in a substance. That substance could be your body and the cold or flu makes your metabolism work harder, creating more heat because now you have white blood cells racing through your veins and lymph system attacking the poisons in your body.
The temperature or thermometer helps you understand the average energy of all those molecules working to destroy those bad boys. If your temperature is 99.7 degrees Fahrenheit, your body is working harder than normal. Normal is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. If your temperature is 104 degrees Fahrenheit, the average energy of those molecular workers is much higher than they should be and you know 1) you better get cooled off quick, 2) call the doctor and 3) take some fever-decreaser medication!
In review! The thermometer helps you understand the average amount of heat energy in a system. Heat equals the TOTAL energy in the system.
Got it?
That's weird that heat and tempature aren't the same.
ReplyDeleteI always thought they were the same thing.
ReplyDelete