20. Explain the difference between temperature and heat. Also, state what determines the direction of heat transfer. Solution Heat ( Q ) is energy. It is the total amount of energy possessed by the molecules in a piece of matter. units - Joules. Temperature ( T ) is not energy. It relates to the average energy of microscopic motions of a single particle in the system per degree of freedom. units - Kelvin (K), Celsius (C) or Fahrenheit (F). heat is a measurement of energy. All molecules contain some amount of kinetic energy, that is to say, they have some intrinsic motion. The hotter an object is, the faster the motion of the molecules inside it. Thus, the heat of an object is the total energy of all the molecular motion inside that object. Temperature, on the other hand, is a measure of the average heat or thermal energy of the molecules in a substance. The fundamental difference between heat and temperature is slight but significant, heat is the overall energy of the molecular motion, whereas temperature is the average energy of the molecular motion. heat will always flow from a hotter to a cooler object. Heat is energy transferred due to thermal contact. the hot thing has to be losing energy, and the cold thing has to be gaining energy. That means that heat is flowing from hot to cold. .