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sticklebat t1_jd58ks6 wrote

Reply to comment by MarzipanMission in Can a single atom be determined to be in any particular phase of matter? by Zalack

Thermodynamic temperature is defined as the rate at which the internal energy of a system changes as its entropy changes.

In contrast, temperature from kinetic theory is essentially a measure of the average translational kinetic energy of the particles in a system.

The two are sometimes, but not typically, equal. The temperature that you know and love is the second one, but thermodynamic temperature is also widely used in science.

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wnoise t1_jd5kly2 wrote

The second is special case of the first. The statistical mechanics temperature really is the fundamental one.

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sticklebat t1_jd5ppqo wrote

Yep. But in most scenarios corresponding to human experience the first is reasonably applicable and much easier to understand.

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