Wouldn’t you rather spill a drop of hot coffee on you than the whole cupful at the same
temperature? Although the drop and the cup full of coffee may initially have the same
temperature, you will receive a bigger burn from the bigger volume of coffee because it has
the higher heat content. Heat is a form of energy. In contrast, temperature is a measurement
that indicates the direction heat will flow. Heat always flows from an object at high
temperature to an object at lower temperature. This means that if hot coffee is added to cold
coffee, heat will flow from the hot liquid to the cold liquid, and the final temperature of the
mixture will be between the original temperatures of the two individual solutions. Heat
depends on the temperature and on how much material is present.