Heat and temperature are different
Two pans of water both read 25 °C. Which one gets hot first?
Step 1 of 4
- Small pan: 1 mug of water. Big pan: 6 mugs. Both are at 25 °C.
- Each pan sits on the same kind of warmer, a small heater.
- Later, the small pan reads 60 °C. The big pan reads only 31 °C.
- The big pan needs 6 times the heat to reach 60 °C.
The small pan gets hot first. It has less water to heat.
Two different words
- Temperature — how hot or cold a thing is. As a number in °C.
- Heat — what moves in to make a thing hotter. Or what moves out to make it colder.
The rule
Temperature is the number on a thermometer. Heat is what moves in or out to change it. More water needs more heat for the same rise.
Now try it. Add water to the right pan. Change the minutes on the warmer. Watch both thermometers.
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