Heat, Temperature, And Kinetic Theory

The summer sun can make it seem easy to understand the concepts of heat and temperature, at least in a visceral sense, but understanding what these concepts mean and how they interact in the more objective and codified world of physics is another matter entirely. For this, it is necessary first to begin to be far more careful when using the two terms, which are far from interchangeable when used in their strictest sense, as well as to develop an understanding of some of the basic and fundamental features of the physical world as it exists and as it is experienced. The following pages present a brief description and discussion of heat and temperature, and the physical/scientific contexts in which they can be properly understood. Armed with this understanding, one can talk about the temperature with much greater authority and with much greater interest than...
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