Temperature

[Sophia Dinh 1D]

Do you need to convert the temperature to Kelvin?

[vibha gurunathan 1h]

It depends on the units of the constants in the problem. If it's a problem with molar heat capacity, use kelvin. If specific heat capacity, you would use celsius. Furthermore, usually you'd do delta T, which either would work. The ideal gas law, however, is always in kelvin, and usually if they ask for just "T" it'd be in kelvin.

[romina_4C]

Usually the question will specify. If you are not sure whether to use Kelvin or Celsius, an easy way of checking is to see what the units are for the other numbers or constants in your equation to see if they have Kelvin or Celsius in them. Depending on which one they use, you may or may not have to convert.

[Angela Patel 2J]

Is it ok to use either since we only care about the change in temperature? The change in temperature will be the same whether measured in kelvin or celsius.

[Daria MacAuslan 1H]

most equations in chemistry tend to use Kelvin instead of Celcius or Farenheit. This is important for these calculations because without conversion, the answers to some questions may come out incorrectly. Usually, if the question does not want you to use Kelvin, it will let you know.

[Orrin Zhong 4G]

Most of the time, temperature has to be changed to Kelvin to be plugged into a formula. However, when an formula requires the change in temperatures (such as in q = mcdeltaT), the use of Celsius for the initial and final temperatures are acceptable because the scaling factor from Celsius to Kelvin cancels out in the subtraction. However, you should convert the temperature you get from the formula into whatever units the question wants you to put your answer in.

[kim 2I]

When referring to the change in temperature, you do not have to worry about the units (Kelvin or celsius) on the temperature. The change would be the same regardless and would not affect your calculations.

[Sanjana Borle 2K]

It does not matter for the most part because the change in temperature in one degree of Celsius is the same as the change in temperature in one degree of Kelvin.

[Pablo 1K]

It depends on the units that the question is asking for. But you should be good as a drop of 1 degree in K is same as in C

[Nathan Rothschild_2D]

For PV=nRT you must convert temperature to kelvin, so to be safe, unless the equation you're using involves celsius, convert to kelvin.

[EllieSchmidtke_4I]

Since Kelvin is the SI units for temperature, it is ideal to convert your answer to Kelvin.

[Gabriella Bates 2L]

Most questions will require you to convert to Kelvin, since this is the S.I. unit. However, if the question asks for the change in temperature, delta T, then it's unnecessary to change the units. This is because Celsius and kelvin have the same magnitude, so the change in temperature will be the same.

[saigorijavolu2k]

Kelvin and Celsius increment by the same number, so in certain cases where units cancel out like q=mcdeltt it is valid. In a case where you are not sure, switch to kelvin.

[Jesse Anderson-Ramirez 3I]

If the question asks for the change in temperature you can use either. If not, you need to look at what units are used in the question or which units are used in the constants.

[Jasmine Vallarta 2L]

it depends on the units given/what they ask for

[Brandi 2C]

As many students started above, K is usually your best bet. The reason for this, however, is that K is an SI unit and therefore is usually used in multiple occasions/circumstances unless it is specifically stated that the answer should be in C or even F. My old high school chemistry teacher ingrained in our minds that SI units are always the go to standard unless started otherwise

[Phuong Tran 1G]

Kelvin is usually the units that they ask you for. However, depending on the problem, using kelvin or Celsius would not matter if you are looking for the change between the initial and final

[Nuoya Jiang]

Most of the time yes, because you have to cancel the units in the gas constant R. But when you are calculation the difference between temperatures, for example, in the equation involving heat capacity, you don't have to worry about that.