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TheArmitage t1_jd5mdnn wrote

Reply to comment by Acewasalwaysanoption in Can a single atom be determined to be in any particular phase of matter? by Zalack

It is inherent in the definition of temperature that the substance is compared to itself. You cannot have an external reference point for temperature, because then it's not temperature.

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Acewasalwaysanoption t1_jd5oj3o wrote

Sorry, I may have misread something.

New question: what you exactly mean by "compared to itself"? It can't be literally itself in the same state, as it would be the same, all the time. Can't be a chunk of the material, or any material that has the same temperature in its core and surface would be at 0 difference and...incomperable?

Also, using thermometers isn't using an external point if reference in general? Originally nercury's change in volume to tell a completely different material's temperature. Works because energy transfer.

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Purplestripes8 t1_jd6moch wrote

By compared to itself it means the motions of the atoms within an object relative to each other. The object itself can have any velocity depending on the observer but no matter which direction it's moving as a whole or how fast, the atoms within still have the same motions relative to each other, which is signified by temperature.

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