Temperature is the amount of kinetic energy in a system. Are we feeling the force of the molecules hitting our skin when we detect something as being hot? Do we feel the kinetic energy in our skin decreasing when something feels cold? What do we actually feel when we detect temperature differences between our bodies and the objects with which we come into contact?
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The thermoreceptors in the skin are nerve endings that respond to changes in temperature – some to warming, and some to cooling. (The exact mechanism isn’t fully understood.) But it is primarily change in temperature that triggers them, not absolute temperature. So if you grab a cold can from the fridge it will feel a lot colder than the (actually equal temperature) plastic bottle because the aluminum conducts heat energy away from your skin a lot faster than the plastic does. When you detect something as hot I guess it is sort of correct to say that you are feeling the force of the molecules hitting your skin, but only in a very roundabout way – the energetic vibration of those molecules is what heat is, and a hot thing will transfer some heat energy into your skin, changing the temperature of your skin, which is what activates the warming thermoreceptors. It’s sort of like saying that when you hear the sound of a motor running, that sound is the kinetic energy of the motor being detected by your body – which of course, it is, but in a roundabout way
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