The temperature of a body is a quantity which indicates how hot or how old the body is. It is a measure of the thermal energy per particle of matter or radiation. It is measured by a thermometer which can be calibrated in various temperature scales.
Temperature is an intensive property. This means it is independent of the amount of material present. It is equal to a differential coefficient of one extensive variable with respect to another for a given body. This is in contrast to energy which is an extensive property where there is a proportional amount of material in the system.
The lowest theoretical temperature is called absolute zero. However, it cannot be achieved in any actual physical device. This temperature is denoted by 0 Kelvin on the Kelvin scale. At this temperature, there are minimal motions of microscopic constituents.
Temperature is important in all fields of natural science. These fields include physics, geology, chemistry, atmospheric science and biology.
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