Temperature as Temperature scales differ in two ways: the point chosen as zero degrees, and the magnitudes of incremental units or degrees on the scale. The Celsius scale (°C) is used for common temperature measurements in most of the world. It is an empirical scale that was developed by a historical progress, which led to its zero point being defined by the freezing point of water, and additional degrees defined so that was the boiling point of water, both at sea-level atmospheric pressure. Because of the 100-degree interval, it was called a centigrade scale. Since the standardization of the kelvin in
Scale of temperature of matter. Temperature is a universal attribute of matter, yet empirical scales map a narrow range onto a scale that is known to have a useful functional form for a particular application. Thus, their range is limited. The working material only exists in a form under certain circumstances, beyond which it no longer can serve as a scale. For example, mercury freezes below 234.32 K, so temperature lower than that cannot be measured in a scale based on mercury. Even ITS-90, which interpolates among different ranges of temperature, has only a range of 0.65 K to approximately 1358 K (−272.5