2007-04-19 09:41:53 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Like Eric said, they are relative. Take three glasses of water, one with ice, one at room temperature, and one heated. If you put your hand in the ice one then the middle one, the room temperature water would feel warm. But if you started with the hot one and then placed your hand in the room temperature water, the water would feel much cooler. Whether something is hot or not depends on your place of reference.
2007-04-19 09:51:08 · answer #1 · answered by macho_bob 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they are too general. The lowest possible temperature is 0K, and the highest 1.41679x10^32K. If you consider the former "cold" and the latter "hot" you would be correct, but what do you call, for instance, 473K (200C)? That is 100C hotter than temperature of boiling water - quite hot for most people. But compared to the lowest and highest possible temperatures, it is in fact incredibly cold.
2007-04-19 09:53:02 · answer #2 · answered by Superconductive Magnet 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because some applications vary so much in hot or cold that a system of measurement is more so required.
2007-04-19 09:57:22 · answer #3 · answered by PENMAN 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because they are subjective, not absolute - what's hot or cold to you may not be hot or cold to someone else
Temperature, on the other hand, is measurable in degrees Farenheit, Celcius or Kelvin.
2007-04-19 09:46:07 · answer #4 · answered by snacgirl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That is not true.
They are scientific terms; used to express relative temperature.
2007-04-19 09:49:03 · answer #5 · answered by J C 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
hot and cold are too general and too relative
2007-04-22 07:08:32 · answer #6 · answered by Liquid Astatine 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they are relative terms.
2007-04-19 09:45:54 · answer #7 · answered by Eric 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hot and cold with respect to whwt? reference?
2007-04-19 09:56:36 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋