Using the formalism of liquid-state statistical mechanics, we study the properties of the recently derived configurational temperature [H. H. Rough, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 772 (1997)]. We show that the configurational temperature expression derived in the microcanonical ensemble is valid for open equilibrium systems as well. We also present a special way of deriving the configurational temperature for dilute gases. The same approach connects the pair-correlation function and the pair potential in the form of a sum rule which can be utilized in the integral equation theory of liquids. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)50908-8].