Temperature is the measure of the degree of hotness or coldness of an object or substance.
When you hold a cup of hot tea, your hand feels warm. When you pick up an ice cube, your hand feels cold. The difference in what you feel is because the tea and the ice have different temperatures.
A higher temperature means an object is hotter. A lower temperature means it is cooler. Temperature tells us how hot or cold something is — nothing more, nothing less.
Temperature is measured using an instrument called a thermometer.
Here are temperatures of common things you already know — these make for great exam answers too:
💡 Hoshi's tip: The human body temperature card (37°C = 98.6°F) appears in almost every Class 6 Science exam. Write it down once, memorise it.
Temperature is measured in degrees. There are two scales used in Class 6:
The symbol ° stands for "degrees." So 37°C is read as "thirty-seven degrees Celsius."
Temperature is measured using an instrument called a thermometer. Most thermometers contain mercury — a silvery liquid that expands when heated and contracts when cooled. As it moves up or down a thin glass tube, we can read the temperature.
There are two types of thermometers you need to know for Class 6:
👉 Full comparison in our post: Temperature and Its Measurement — Complete Class 6 Notes
Students often mix up heat and temperature. Here is the clear difference:
| Heat | Temperature |
|---|---|
| A form of energy | A measurement |
| Flows from hot to cold objects | Tells us how hot or cold an object is |
| Measured in Joules (J) | Measured in °C or °F |
| A large bucket of warm water has more heat than a small cup of boiling water | The boiling water has a higher temperature |
"Heat and temperature mean the same thing." — This is wrong.
Heat is a form of energy. Temperature is how we measure hotness or coldness. If your exam asks "what is temperature?", the answer is not "it is heat." The answer is: "Temperature is the measure of the degree of hotness or coldness of an object."
Always use the word measure or degree of hotness/coldness in your definition.
Q: What is temperature?
A: Temperature is the measure of the degree of hotness or coldness of an object or substance. It is measured using a thermometer in degrees Celsius (°C) or Fahrenheit (°F).
Q: What is the unit of temperature?
A: Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius (°C) or degrees Fahrenheit (°F).
Q: The normal temperature of the human body is ______.
A: 37°C or 98.6°F