Temperature is defined as which of the following?

• A. The amount of heat an object contains.
• B. The average kinetic energy of particles.
• C. A unit of energy.
• D. The rate at which heat is transferred.

Answer: (B)

Temperature measures how hot something is by looking at how the particles in the substance are moving. In the kinetic view, the average kinetic energy of those particles increases as temperature goes up, so temperature is essentially a measure of that average motion energy. That’s why the statement about the average kinetic energy of particles is the best description.

The other ideas describe different things: the amount of heat an object contains refers to its thermal energy content, which depends on how much stuff there is and what it’s made of, not just how hot it is. A unit of energy is a different quantity entirely—temperature isn’t an energy unit. The rate at which heat is transferred describes how quickly energy moves between objects, not the temperature itself.