Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
The Thermodynamics Zeroth Law states that if two systems are at the same time in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they are in equilibrium with each other.
If an object with a higher temperature comes in contact with an object of lower temperature, it will transfer heat to the lower temperature object. The objects will approach the same temperature and in the absence of loss to other objects, they will maintain a single constant temperature. Therefore, thermal equilibrium is attained.
If objects ‘A’ and ‘C’ are in thermal equilibrium with ‘B’, then object ‘A’ is in thermal equilibrium with object ‘C’. Practically this means all three objects are at the same temperature and it forms the basis for comparison of temperatures.
Principles of Thermometry
Thermometry is the science and practice of temperature measurement. Any measurable change in a thermometric probe (e.g. the dilatation of a liquid in a capillary tube, variation of electrical resistance of a conductor, of refractive index of a transparent material, and so on) can be used to mark temperature levels, that should later be calibrated against an internationally agreed unit if the measure is to be related to other thermodynamic variables.
Thermometry is sometimes split in metrological studies in two subfields: contact thermometry and noncontact thermometry. As there can never be complete thermal uniformity at large, thermometry is always associated to a heat transfer problem with some space-time coordinates of measurement, given rise to time-series plots and temperature maps.
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