In the study [1] that inspired this work, a quantity of liquid was added to a massive amount of liquid nitrogen, so the final temperature winds up at 77 K ( degrees °C), whatever the mass and original temperature of the liquid. The purpose of this Demonstration is thus to clarify the conceptual difference between temperature and heat.

Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a body. Thus, temperature is an intensive property, independent of mass, while heat is an extensive property, proportional to the mass. A system does not "contain" any definite quantity of heat, but can only transfer heat along a temperature gradient.