Learn in the textbookDetection Devices (Distance and Environmental-Quantity Sensors)
DefinitionA temperature sensor (温度センサー) measures the temperature of its surroundings or of an object and outputs the value as an electrical signal.
ExplanationA thermistor (サーミスタ), for example, is a component whose electrical resistance changes with temperature, and reading that change as a voltage reveals the temperature. Besides controlling the temperature of air conditioners and fridges, it is built into IoT devices that monitor room temperature as their input part.
AnalogyIt plays the role of a thermometer, turning the hot and cold you feel on your skin into numbers a machine can read.
Memory hookThe "thermo" in thermostat and thermography means heat. Thermistor shares the same root, so remember it as a part whose properties change with heat.