The difference in temperature between an infrared meter reading and the ___ temperature reading is the amount of heat produced.

The correct choice refers to the ambient temperature, which is essential in understanding how infrared meters work. An infrared meter measures the surface temperature of an object without making direct contact. The comparison between the infrared reading and the ambient temperature helps to quantify the thermal radiation emitted by the object.

When measuring heat, the infrared meter detects the temperature of the target, while the ambient temperature represents the heat of the environment surrounding that object. The difference between these two readings indicates how much heat the object is producing relative to its surroundings.

This difference is critical for applications in fields such as building inspections, electrical inspections, and thermography, where identifying heat loss, energy efficiency, or overheating components is necessary. The other options, such as centigrade, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin, are units of temperature measurement, but they do not relate to the foundational concept of ambient temperature in the context of heat production measurements using infrared technology.