What are temperature variations?

Temperature variations are when the temperature changes from one moment to another, just like your favorite toy feels warm in your hands and cool on the floor.

Imagine you're sitting by a window on a sunny day. At first, the sunlight makes your face feel nice and warm, like a cozy blanket. But then the clouds roll in, and suddenly it’s not so hot anymore, it's more like when you take off your sweater after playing outside. That change from warm to cool is a temperature variation.

Like a Roller Coaster

Sometimes, temperature changes are slow, like when the sun goes down and the day turns into night, it gets cooler little by little. Other times, they're fast, like when you go from a hot room to a cold one in an instant. It’s like riding a roller coaster: sometimes you go up slowly, other times you drop suddenly!

So next time you feel your body shiver or sweat, remember, that’s temperature variation doing its thing!

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A child notices the playground feels hotter in the afternoon than it does in the morning.
  2. A person wears a coat outside because it's colder at night.
  3. The temperature inside a car becomes very hot after being parked in the sun all day.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity