Temperature | |||
---|---|---|---|
Season | 1 | ||
Episode | 10 | ||
Airdate | March 26, 2000 | ||
Curriculum | Science |
Temperature launched in BrainPOP Science March 26, 2000.
Summary[]
Tim and Moby get a letter about temperature. Tim then talks about temperature, various degrees of it, and how it works. After Tim is done explaining, Moby's hand turns into a freeze-ray, and he freezes Tim's hand. "Why?!", Tim says.
Transcript and Quiz[]
Quotes[]
- [final lines]
- Tim: [Moby's hand turns into a freeze-ray and freezes Tim's hand] Why?!
FYIs[]
In Depth[]
People rely on accurate measurements of temperature for all kinds of reasons: to set their thermostats, to check whether they’re sick, and to conduct scientific research. Check out these different types of thermometers and their main uses:
The bi-metallic strip thermometer is a thin strip of two different metals, usually copper and steel. When the strip warms up, the two metals expand at different rates. This causes the strip to bend to one side. Bi-metallic strip thermometers are often incorporated into an electric circuit. They're placed so that when they bend, it either breaks or completes the circuit. This will turn the device that the circuit is part of off or on.
One example is in a thermostat connected to a radiator. Imagine you've set a room's temperature to 68 degrees on a cold winter day. As the radiator warms up the room, a strip thermometer in the thermostat's circuit begins to bend. When the room's temperature passes 68, the thermometer bends so much that the circuit is broken, and the radiator turns off. As the room cools, the thermometer straightens out again, completes the circuit, and turns the radiator back on.
A digital (electronic) thermometer works on the principle of resistance. That’s a measure of how much a material reduces the strength of an electrical current flowing through it. In some materials, the amount of resistance changes with temperature. Digital thermometers can read temperature in seconds. They’re used widely by scientists, doctors, and in the home for quick and accurate temperature readings.
The Galileo thermometer (pictured) is named after its inventor, Galileo Galilei. It's a glass cylinder filled with clear liquid, in which there are several glass bulbs filled with colored liquids. Each bulb has a different density. As the temperature changes, the clear liquid changes density, and the colored bulbs rise or sink. Numbers attached to whichever bulbs are at the top tell you the temperature.
An infrared thermometer measures the infrared radiation emitted by objects, often by using lasers. Scientists use these thermometers to measure temperatures of faraway galaxies. But they can also be used to measure body temperature from a (slightly!) shorter distance.
A liquid crystal thermometer is a strip containing temperature-sensitive liquid crystals. They change color to indicate the temperature. You may have encountered this type of thermometer in a mood ring!
The maximum-minimum thermometer can measure maximum and minimum temperatures over a given time period. Weather scientists use them to log temperature over the course of a day.
Arts and Entertainment[]
Here's a list of songs related to temperature!
A Question of Temperature by The Balloon Farm
Cold Brains by Beck
Cold by Crossfade
The Cold, Cold Ground by Tom Waits
Cold Wind by Arcade Fire
Warm Tape by Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Warmth of the Sun by The Beach Boys
Soft & Warm by Voxtrot
Fever by Little Willie John
Hot by Avril Lavigne
Hotter than July by Stevie Wonder (pictured)
Hotride by The Prodigy
Make It Hot by Missy Elliot, Mocha & Nicole
Return to Hot Chicken by Yo La Tengo
Did You Know?[]
You’ve heard of Celsius and Fahrenheit, and maybe you’ve even been introduced to the world of Kelvin. But have you heard of the Rankine temperature scale?
The Rankine scale is similar to Kelvin in that “absolute zero,” the point at which all molecules stop moving, is represented by 0 degrees. But while each degree on the Kelvin scale is equivalent to one degree on the Celsius scale, one degree on the Rankine scale is equivalent to one degree Fahrenheit.
On the Rankine scale—which is often abbreviated R or Ra—the freezing point of water is 491.67 R, and the boiling point of water is 671.641 R.
The Rankine scale is named after Scottish physicist William John Macquorn Rankine (pictured), who introduced it in 1859. In addition to having truly awesome facial hair, Rankine made a name for himself by devising a method to lay out curving sections of railroad track. He also loaned his name to an equation dealing with the spreading of shock waves.
Graphs, Stats, and Numbers[]
Here’s a closer look at the Kelvin scale!
143 K: Average surface temperature of Saturn
152 K: Average surface temperature of Jupiter
184 K: Coldest temperature recorded on Earth
210 K: Average surface temperature of Mars
273.15 K: Melting point of ice
287 K: Average surface temperature of Earth
310 K: Standard human body temperature
331 K: Hottest temperature recorded on Earth
355 K: Recommended temperature for brewing coffee
373.15 K: Boiling point of water
600.65 K: Melting point of lead
737 K: Average surface temperature of Venus
933.47 K: Melting point of aluminum
1,170 K: Temperature of a wood bonfire
5,780 K: Surface temperature of the sun
FYI Comic[]