Video Transcript
Do the temperatures of objects
measured by thermometers necessarily correspond accurately to the perceived hotness
or coldness of these objects produced by contact between the skin and these
objects?
This question is asking us how
accurately we can measure the temperature of different objects just by touching
them. If we touch an object and feel or
perceive that it is hot or cold, is this as accurate as measuring the temperature of
the object with a thermometer?
We know that we can feel how hot an
object is if we touch it. For example, holding a freshly made
cup of tea in one hand and a cup of icy water in the other hand, we would be able to
tell which one was which without looking. The tea would feel hot, while the
icy water would feel cold. This is because there’s a big
difference between the temperature of each object. The tea feels hotter than the icy
water because the temperature of the tea is far greater.
But, if someone asked what the
exact temperature of each drink was, it would be difficult to come up with an
answer. We might be able to make an
estimate, but it would be impossible to know for sure exactly what the temperature
of each drink was just by holding them. If we want to know the exact value
of each drink’s temperature, we would have to use a thermometer.
Our perception of temperature can
be affected by other things. For example, imagine getting into a
cold swimming pool on a warm day. At first, the water will feel very
cold because its temperature is lower than that of the air we were just in. However, after staying in the pool
for long enough, we would get used to the temperature of the water, and it wouldn’t
feel so cold anymore. The actual temperature of the water
hasn’t changed. It is always the same. But our perception of this
temperature has changed.
So, the answer to this question is
no. The hotness or coldness that we
perceive when we touch an object does not necessarily accurately correspond to the
temperature of the object measured by a thermometer.
