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What type of scale is temperature classified as?

1. Nominative scales

2. Ratio scales

3. Ordinal scales

4. Interval scales

The correct answer is: Interval scales

Temperature is classified as an interval scale because it possesses the characteristic of being measurable on a numerical scale with equal intervals between values, which allows for meaningful comparisons of differences. In an interval scale, the difference between the values is consistent, so a temperature difference of 10 degrees (for example, from 20 degrees to 30 degrees) represents the same difference in thermal energy regardless of where it falls on the scale. Additionally, interval scales do not have a true zero point in the way that ratio scales do. For temperature measured in Celsius or Fahrenheit, the zero point does not indicate a complete absence of temperature (i.e., there can still be temperatures below zero). This differentiates interval scales from ratio scales, where both differences and ratios are meaningful due to the presence of an absolute zero point. In contrast, a nominative scale simply categorizes data without measuring any quantities or ranking them. An ordinal scale involves order but does not provide the precise intervals between the ranks. Therefore, temperature aligns most appropriately with an interval scale given its properties and the nature of measurement involved.