PS Physics: Chapter 6 Thermal Energy Name:______________________
Hot or Not Activity –
Temperature Conversion Worksheet
In your everyday life and in your study of Chemistry, you are likely to encounter three
different temperature scales. When you watch the weather report on the news, they will
report the temperature on one scale, yet you measure temperature in the laboratory on a
different scale. Many Chemistry equations must be done using yet another temperature
scale. Clearly, you can see the importance of the use of units when reporting
temperature. You can also see the need, for a student of Science, to be able to convert
temperatures from one scale to another. This page is designed to help you do just that.
The Fahrenheit Scale - The Fahrenheit scale is the scale that is used when they report the weather on
the news each night. It is probably the temperature scale that you are most familiar with, if you live in
the United States. The thermometers that you have in your house, for uses such as; swimming pools,
cooking, bath tubs, or reading body temperature, are all likely to be in Fahrenheit. In Canada and most
other countries, the news will report the temperature on the Celsius scale.
The Celsius Scale - The Celsius scale, is commonly used for scientific work. The thermometers that we
use in our laboratory are marked with the Celsius scale. The Celsius scale is also called the Centigrade
scale because it was designed in such a way that there are 100 units or degrees between the freezing
point and boiling point of water. One of the limitations of the Celsius scale is that negative temperatures
are very common. Since we know that temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of molecules, this
would almost suggest that it is possible to have less than zero energy. This is why the Kelvin scale was
necessary.
The Kelvin Scale - The International System of Measurements (SI) uses the Kelvin scale for measuring
temperature. This scale makes more sense in light of the way that temperature is defined. The Kelvin
scale is based on the concept of absolute zero, the theoretical temperature at which molecules would
have zero kinetic energy. Absolute zero, which is about -273.15 oC, is set at zero on the Kelvin
scale. This means that there is no temperature lower than zero Kelvin, so there are no negative numbers
on the Kelvin scale. For certain calculations, like the gas laws, which you will be learning soon, the
Kelvin scale must be used.
Figure 2-9a Comparison of Temperature Scales
Set Points
Fahrenheit
Celsius
Kelvin
water boils
212
100
373
body temperature
98.6
37
310
water freezes
32
0
273
absolute zero
-460
-273
0
There will be times when you need to be able to convert a temperature from one scale to another. In real
life, you might be in a country where temperature is reported in Celsius and you will want to convert
that into Fahrenheit, in order to figure out if you need to wear a sweater. In your laboratory work, you
may need to change from Celsius to Kelvin in order to calculate the volume that a gas might occupy at
standard temperature and pressure. The table below will show you the formulas that you can use to
change from one scale to another.
