Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium01:11

Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium

10.4K
Heat and temperature are essential concepts for everyone every day. The study of heat and temperature is part of an area of physics known as thermodynamics. It is not always easy to distinguish heat and temperature.
The concept of temperature has evolved from the common concepts of hot and cold. The scientific definition of temperature explains more than just our sense of hot and cold. Temperature is operationally defined as the quantity measured with a thermometer. Furthermore, temperature is...
10.4K
Le Chatelier's Principle: Changing Temperature02:19

Le Chatelier's Principle: Changing Temperature

37.5K
Consistent with the law of mass action, an equilibrium stressed by a change in concentration will shift to re-establish equilibrium without any change in the value of the equilibrium constant, K. When an equilibrium shifts in response to a temperature change, however, it is re-established with a different relative composition that exhibits a different value for the equilibrium constant.
To understand this phenomenon, consider the elementary reaction:
37.5K
The Response of Equilibria to the Conditions01:30

The Response of Equilibria to the Conditions

78
Named after the French chemist Henry Louis Le Chatelier, Le Chatelier's principle states that when a system at equilibrium is subjected to any change (like pressure, temperature, or concentration), the composition of the system adjusts in a way that counteracts the effect of this change, thereby attempting to restore the equilibrium.According to Le Chatelier's principle, for exothermic reactions, when the system's temperature is increased, the system will try to reduce the temperature. This...
78
The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics01:14

The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

196
Systems in mechanical equilibrium exert equal pressure on the separating wall. Similarly, systems in thermal equilibrium share a common thermodynamic property: temperature.Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles within a system. More generally, it reflects the internal energy state of the system. The higher the temperature, the more energy a system has, given that other variables, such as volume and pressure, remain constant. However, temperature is not a form of...
196
Heating and Cooling Curves02:44

Heating and Cooling Curves

29.0K
When a substance—isolated from its environment—is subjected to heat changes, corresponding changes in temperature and phase of the substance is observed; this is graphically represented by heating and cooling curves.
For instance, the addition of heat raises the temperature of a solid; the amount of heat absorbed depends on the heat capacity of the solid (q = mcsolidΔT). According to thermochemistry, the relation between the amount of heat absorbed or released by a substance,...
29.0K
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics01:14

Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

7.9K
Experimentally, if object A is in equilibrium with object B, and object B is in equilibrium with object C, then object A is in equilibrium with object C. That statement of transitivity is called the "zeroth law of thermodynamics." For example, a cold metal block and a hot metal block are both placed on a metal plate at room temperature. Eventually, the cold block and the plate will be in thermal equilibrium. In addition, the hot block and the plate will be in thermal equilibrium.
7.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Metagenome-scale Modeling to Assess Microbiome Metabolic Complementarity for Precision Microbiota Transplantation Therapies.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Minimax entropy: The statistical physics of optimal models.

Physical review. E·2026
Same author

Non-equilibrium strategies enabling ligand specificity by signaling receptors.

eLife·2025
Same author

Directional Sensing by Eukaryotic Receptors.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2024
Same author

GENERALIST: A latent space based generative model for protein sequence families.

PLoS computational biology·2023
Same author

EMBED: Essential MicroBiomE Dynamics, a dimensionality reduction approach for longitudinal microbiome studies.

NPJ systems biology and applications·2023
Same journal

Grammatical evolution-based design of nucleotic analogs for SARS-CoV-2's replication-transcription complex.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

Optical frequency comb Fourier transform spectroscopy of the CH<sub>2</sub><sup>79</sup>Br<sup>81</sup>Br, CH<sub>2</sub><sup>79</sup>Br<sub>2</sub>, and CH<sub>2</sub><sup>81</sup>Br<sub>2</sub> isotopologues in the 1180-1210 cm<sup>-1</sup> region.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

First-principles modeling of polysilazane-derived SiCNH ceramics: insights into the organization of the free-carbon phase.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

Determining the binding strength of phenolic anchoring groups on hydrated WO<sub>3</sub> surfaces.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

Activation of methane by the tantalum trioxide anion, TaO<sub>3</sub><sup></sup>.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

Temperature-dependent recombination dynamics in BH/ZnBr<sub>2</sub> Co-doped CsPbI<sub>3</sub> thin films.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 14, 2026

Near-Infrared Temperature Measurement Technique for Water Surrounding an Induction-heated Small Magnetic Sphere
08:52

Near-Infrared Temperature Measurement Technique for Water Surrounding an Induction-heated Small Magnetic Sphere

Published on: April 30, 2018

8.8K

Detecting temperature fluctuations at equilibrium.

Purushottam D Dixit1

  • 1Department of System Biology, Columbia University, USA. pd2447@cumc.columbia.edu.

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP
|April 28, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Temperature fluctuations in small systems, not a limitation of statistical mechanics, lead to broad temperature distributions. This new theory explains equilibrium and dynamics for nanoscale biophysics and nanotechnology applications.

More Related Videos

Thermocapillary Convection Space Experiment on the SJ-10 Recoverable Satellite
07:00

Thermocapillary Convection Space Experiment on the SJ-10 Recoverable Satellite

Published on: March 11, 2020

7.9K
Fabrication and Testing of Photonic Thermometers
08:44

Fabrication and Testing of Photonic Thermometers

Published on: October 24, 2018

6.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 14, 2026

Near-Infrared Temperature Measurement Technique for Water Surrounding an Induction-heated Small Magnetic Sphere
08:52

Near-Infrared Temperature Measurement Technique for Water Surrounding an Induction-heated Small Magnetic Sphere

Published on: April 30, 2018

8.8K
Thermocapillary Convection Space Experiment on the SJ-10 Recoverable Satellite
07:00

Thermocapillary Convection Space Experiment on the SJ-10 Recoverable Satellite

Published on: March 11, 2020

7.9K
Fabrication and Testing of Photonic Thermometers
08:44

Fabrication and Testing of Photonic Thermometers

Published on: October 24, 2018

6.4K

Area of Science:

  • Statistical Mechanics
  • Thermodynamics
  • Nanophysics

Background:

  • The definitions of temperature by Gibbs and Boltzmann converge only for macroscopic systems.
  • The equilibrium temperature of small systems interacting with a larger bath presents ambiguities in conventional statistical mechanics.
  • These ambiguities are often viewed as inherent limitations of existing theoretical frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To resolve the ambiguity in defining the equilibrium temperature of small systems.
  • To develop a generalized statistical mechanics framework applicable to finite-sized systems.
  • To investigate the impact of temperature fluctuations on the behavior of small systems.

Main Methods:

  • Interpreting temperature ambiguity as stochastic temperature fluctuations.
  • Developing a theoretical framework for the equilibrium statistics and dynamics of small systems based on fluctuating temperature.
  • Employing numerical simulations with an analytically tractable model for validation.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated that temperature fluctuations, not a limitation, cause broad temperature distributions in small systems.
  • Developed a generalized statistical mechanics approach for small systems.
  • Numerical evidence confirmed the detectability of temperature fluctuation effects in equilibrium and dynamical properties.

Conclusions:

  • The proposed theory successfully generalizes statistical mechanics to small systems.
  • Temperature fluctuations are a key factor in understanding the behavior of small systems.
  • The findings have significant implications for biophysics and nanotechnology.