Or the fact that when we mention speed we should technically speak of the average of all the speeds of all the particles. Image of a thermometer.Īs always, there's much more to these concepts than what we've mentioned here, like for example the fact that speed is related to the kinetic energy by means of a square root. Jump to our particles velocity calculator and thermal energy calculator to learn more. This is very closely related to the concept of thermal energy and means that heat is just another expression of kinetic energy. What this means is that the higher the temperature of something, the higher the particles velocity a.k.a.the molecules that make up that something vibrate faster.

There is no need to worry, however, because when we dig deeper into what is temperature, the answer is fairly simple: temperature is speed, or rather the momentum of the atoms and molecules that make up a material. To do this we have to turn to physics, in particular to thermodynamics and statistical physics, which is like thermodynamics meets quantum physics. We all know what is hot or cold, but temperature? Temperature is much harder to define without getting technical, which is precisely why we will get technical.

It is always hard to come up with a good definition for everyday terms, but with temperature, it is notoriously difficult.

Celsius temp conversion chart