Self-contained breathing apparatus pressure changes with ambient temperature. As temperature decreases, the pressure inside the cylinder decreases. The relationship between the temperature and the pressure of a gas is defined by the formula "PV" = "nRT". (See Universal gas constant.) What is particularly important to understand from the formula is that the temperature is in kelvins, not degrees Fahrenheit. Consider the freezing point of water at 32 °F (0 °C, 273.15 K) and compare it to 96 °F (35.6 °C or 308.71 K; normal human body temperature is 37 °C). While 96 is arithmetically three times 32, the difference in temperature from a
Thermodynamic temperature energy a substance absorbs for a given temperature rise. This property is known as a substance's specific heat capacity. Different molecules absorb different amounts of thermal energy for each incremental increase in temperature; that is, they have different specific heat capacities. High specific heat capacity arises, in part, because certain substances' molecules possess more internal degrees of freedom than others do. For instance, nitrogen, which is a diatomic molecule, has "five" active degrees of freedom at room temperature: the three comprising translational motion plus two rotational degrees of freedom internally. Since the two internal degrees of freedom are essentially unfrozen,