Absolute zero

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Absolute zero is a temperature marked by a 0 entropy configuration. It is the coldest temperature theoretically possible and cannot be reached by artificial or natural means. Temperature is an entropically defined quantity that effectively determines the number of thermodynamically accessible states of a system within an energy range. Absolute zero physically possesses quantum mechanical zero-point energy. Having a limited temperature has several thermodynamic consequences; for example, at absolute zero all molecular motion does not cease but does not have enough energy for transference to other systems, it is therefore correct to say that at 0 kelvin molecular energy is minimal. In addition, any particle with zero energy would violate Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, which states that the location and momentum of a particle cannot be known at the same time. A particle at absolute zero would be at rest, so both its position, and momentum (0), would be known simultaneously.

By international agreement, absolute zero is defined as precisely 0 K on the Kelvin scale, which is a thermodynamic (absolute) temperature scale, and −273.15° on the Celsius scale. Absolute zero is also precisely equivalent to 0 R on the Rankine scale (same as Kelvin but measured in Fahrenheit intervals), and −459.67° on the Fahrenheit scale. Though it is not theoretically possible to cool any substance to 0 K, scientists have made great advancements in achieving temperatures close to absolute zero, where matter exhibits quantum effects such as superconductivity and superfluidity. For the kinematics of the molecules, on a larger scale, which is easier to understand see kinetic energy.

For more information about Absolute zero, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with absolute zero

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First Bose-Einstein condensation of strontium

First Bose-Einstein condensation of strontium

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (10) | comments 5

In an international first, scientists from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI, Austria) produced a Bose-Einstein condensate of the alkaline-earth element strontium, thus narrowly ...


Quantum gas microscope offers glimpse of quirky ultracold atoms

Quantum gas microscope offers glimpse of quirky ultracold atoms

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (19) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists at Harvard University have created a quantum gas microscope that can be used to observe single atoms at temperatures so low the particles follow the rules of quantum mechanics, ...


Tailoring the optical dipole force for use on molecules

Physics / General Physics

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (5) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- "Scientists have been working with dipole fields for quite some time," Peter Barker tells PhysOrg.com. "However, most of the work is focused on very small particles, like atoms, or on larger particles, such a ...


Diamonds may be the ultimate MRI probe, say Quantum physicists

Diamonds May Be the Ultimate MRI Probe, Say Quantum Physicists

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Sep 22, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Diamonds, it has long been said, are a girl's best friend. But a research team including a physicist from the National Institute of Standards and Technology has recently found that the gems ...


Magnetism observed in gas for the first time

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 17, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (14) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, MIT scientists have observed ferromagnetism in an atomic gas, addressing the decades-old question of whether gases could show properties similar to a magnet made of iron or nickel. Specifically, ...


'Wedding Cake' Images Display Transitions between Exotic Quantum States

'Wedding Cake' Images Display Transitions between Exotic Quantum States

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Aug 20, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Transitions are exciting. And at temperatures close to absolute zero, studying the transition from one quantum phase to another tantalizes physicists looking for a deeper understanding of ...


Fire Meets Ice: Superhot And Supercold Remarkably Similar In The 'Fermion' World (w/ Video)

Fire Meets Ice: Superhot And Supercold Remarkably Similar In The 'Fermion' World (w/ Video)

Physics / General Physics

created Aug 04, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (14) | comments 13

Trapping and cooling a microscopic clump of gas and then suddenly releasing it would normally result in the gas rapidly expanding outward in all directions, like a spherical bubble.


'Nano violin string'

'Nano violin string' made of vibrating carbon nanotube (w/ Video)

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jul 24, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 3

Researchers at TU Delft, The Netherlands, have succeeded in measuring the influence of a single electron on a vibrating carbon nanotube. This research can be important for work such as the development of ultra-small ...


Coolest spacecraft ever in orbit around L2

Coolest spacecraft ever in orbit around L2

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 03, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (11) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Last night, the detectors of Planck's High Frequency Instrument reached their amazingly low operational temperature of -273°C, making them the coldest known objects in space. The spacecraft ...


New insights, and a new angle, on high-temperature superconductivity

New insights, and a new angle, on high-temperature superconductivity

Physics / Superconductivity

created Jun 29, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Princeton-led research team has revealed surprising information about how electron behavior influences the conduction of electricity in a class of high-temperature superconductors. An increased ...


Formation of the smallest droplet of acid

Formation of the smallest droplet of acid

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Jun 19, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Exactly four water molecules and one hydrogen chloride molecule are necessary to form the smallest droplet of acid. This was the result of work by the groups of Prof. Dr. Martina Havenith (physical chemistry) ...


Supercooled and supersized technologies aboard Herschel and Planck

Supercooled and supersized technologies aboard Herschel and Planck

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 11, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Away from sunlight it can get very cold in space, but not cold enough for the Herschel and Planck missions, which ESA and European industry have equipped with state-of-the-art refrigeration systems to make ...


Spitzer Space Telescope

Spitzer Telescope Warms Up to New Career

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 06, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 2

The primary mission of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is about to end after more than five and a half years of probing the cosmos with its keen infrared eye. Within about a week of May 12, the telescope is ...


If Spitzer Could Talk: An Interview with NASA's Coolest Space Telescope

If Spitzer Could Talk: An Interview with NASA's Coolest Space Telescope

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 05, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is about to use its last drop of the coolant that has chilled it for the past five-and-a-half years. On about May 12, give or take a week or so, the observatory is predicted ...


Frozen helium-4 may be an unusual 'superglass'

Physics / General Physics

created May 01, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (15) | comments 11

(PhysOrg.com) -- When helium is cooled to around 4 degrees above absolute zero, it turns liquid. Make it a couple of degrees cooler, and it becomes a "superfluid" that flows without resistance from its container, ...