Temperature and Heat

Temperature and heat are not the same phenomenon. Temperature is a measure of the intensity or degree of hotness in a body. Technically, it is determined by getting the average speed of a body's molecules. Heat is a measure of the quantity of heat energy present in a body. The spatial distribution of temperature in a body determines heat flow. Heat always flows from warmer to colder areas.

The heat held in an object depends not only on its temperature but also its mass. For example, let us compare the heating of two different masses of water (Table 1). In this example, one mass has a weight of 5 grams, while the other is 25 grams. If the temperature of both masses is raised from 20 to 25° Celsius, the larger mass of water will require five times more heat energy for this increase in temperature. This larger mass would also contain 5 times more stored heat energy.