Definition
Temperature
A measure of how hot or cold something is on a named scale.
What it means
A temperature needs both a number and its scale. A thermometer might show 4 °C or 39 °F. To compare or calculate a change, keep the scale and unit with the number.
Remember it
Read the number and the scale together.
Example
The temperature is 4 °C in the morning and 14 °C in the afternoon. The increase is 14 − 4 = 10 °C.
Watch for
Zero on the Celsius or Fahrenheit scale does not mean “no temperature.” It is simply a marked point on that scale.
Common mix-up
Temperature tells how hot or cold something is; heat is energy transferred because temperatures differ.
Exact meaning
Temperature is a measured quantity reported as a number on a stated scale, such as degrees Celsius or degrees Fahrenheit, to describe how hot or cold something is.