24 Examples of Temperature

John Spacey, updated on May 10, 2023

Temperature is the intensity of heat or coldness in a substance, object or environment. In the United States this is measured with a scale known as Fahrenheit that was historically common in other countries until the post WWII era when all other major nations switched to a scale called Celsius that is arguably more intuitive because it places the freezing point of water at 0°C and the boiling point at 100°C. The following are examples of notable or interesting temperatures.

Temperature	Fahrenheit ( °F )	Celsius ( °C )
Absolute zero	-459.67°F	-273.15°C
Surface of Pluto	-375°F	-225°C
Surface of Neptune	-330°F	-200°C
Surface of Uranus	-320°F	-195°C
Surface of Saturn	-220°F	-140°C
Surface of Jupiter	-166°F	-110°C
Lowest temperature on Earth recorded July 21, 1983 at Vostok, Antarctica	-128.6°F	-89.2°C
Surface of Mars	-85°F	-65°C
Point at which Celsius and Fahrenheit are the same	-40°F	-40°C
Freezing point of sea water	28.4°F	-2°C
Freezing point of water	32°F	0°C
Average surface temperature on Earth	59°F	15°C
Room temperature	68°F	20°C
Normal body temperature	98.6°F	37°C
Hottest temperature on Earth recorded July 7, 1913 at Furnace Creek Ranch, CA, USA	-128.6°F	56.7°C
Boiling point of water	134°F	100°C
Surface of Mercury	333°F	167°C
Surface of Venus	867°F	464°C
Melting point of gold	1945°F	1063°C
Melting point of iron	2200°F	1204°C
Melting point of carbon	6,422°F	3,550°C
Surface of Sun	10,000°F	5,537°C
Temperature of Lightning (max approx)	50,000°F	27,760°C
Core of the Sun (approx)	27 million °F	15 million °C

Carbon has the highest melting point of any element at 6,422°F. Helium has the lowest melting point at -458°F.

The surface of the Sun is not as hot as the Sun's outer atmosphere known as the corona that reaches about 2 million °F. The core of the Sun is the hottest thing in the Solar System. According to NASA, the energy released by the Sun in one second is approximately equivalent to 1.5 million times the annual energy consumption of all humans.

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References

Kuhn, J. R., K. G. Libbrecht, and R. H. Dicke. "The surface temperature of the sun and changes in the solar constant." Science 242.4880 (1988): 908-911.

World Meteorological Organization's World Weather & Climate Archive,

World: Highest Temperature

World Meteorological Organization's World Weather & Climate Archive,

World: Lowest Temperature

NASA, Solar System Temperatures

National Weather Service, How Hot is Lightning

Nasa, Where Does the Sun's Energy Come From? (retrieved from: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sun-heat/en/)