Heat and temperature are a closely related topic, and as such, the difference between the two can be a bit confusing. The core difference is that heat deals with thermal energy, whereas temperature is more concerned with molecular kinetic energy.
The main difference between heat and temperature is heat is the overall energy of the molecular motion, whereas temperature is the average energy of the molecular motion.
Heat and temperature are related because more heat usually means a higher temperature. But they are different because heat is a form of energy while temperature is a measure of energy, or of how hot or cold something is.
Temperature is a measure of the degree of hotness or the intensity of sensible heat. Whenever two bodies at different temperatures are brought into thermal contact, heat flows from one at a higher temperature to the other at a lower temperature.
Heat and temperature are the basics of physics that govern how matter and energy behave in nature. Temperature is the measurement of the strength of that heat energy, whereas heat is energy in motion.
Heat is the total energy of the motion of the molecules of a substance, whereas temperature refers to the measure of the average energy of the motions of the molecules in the substance.
In thermochemistry, heat and temperature are two sides of the same story: temperature tells us how “excited” particles are, and heat is the energy that moves between substances. Together, they explain why hot coffee cools down, why ice warms up, and what happens at the particle level when energy is transferred.
Heat is measured in joules (J) in the International System of Units (SI). Sometimes you may also come across it expressed in calories, especially in older textbooks or food-related contexts. What is Temperature? If heat is about total energy, temperature is about the average.
Heat energy and temperature are related concepts but are not the same thing. Heat energy is the total energy of all the particles in a substance, including both kinetic and potential energy. Temperature, on the other hand, is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a substance.