What is Absolute Zero?
Question submitted by: W. Thomson of Lansing Temperature is a physical quantity which gives us an idea of how hot or cold an object is. The temperature of an object depends on how fast the atoms and molecules which make up the object can shake, or oscillate. As an object is cooled, the oscillations of its atoms and molecules slow down. For example, as water cools, the slowing oscillations of the molecules allow the water to freeze into ice. In all materials, a point is eventually reached at which all oscillations are the slowest they can possibly be. The temperature which corresponds to this point is called absolute zero. Note that the oscillations never come to a complete stop, even at absolute zero. There are three temperature scales. Most people are familiar with either the Fahrenheit or the Celsius scales, with temperatures measured in degrees Fahrenheit (º F) or degrees Celsius (º C) respectively. On the Fahrenheit scale, water freezes at a temperature of 32º Fahrenheit and boils
When we feel something as hot or cold, what we are feeling is the energy that the object radiates because of motion on a molecular scale. For instance, the molecules in a pot of boiling water are moving much faster than those in an ice cube or a glass of cold water. Physicists theorize that there is a temperature at which molecular motion stops, or is reduced to such a low point that it is unable to transfer any energy that could be considered heat. This theoretical temperature is known as absolute zero. Absolute zero is theoretical because it can never be reached. Scientists, have, however, come very close to producing this temperature in laboratories. The temperature of absolute zero is -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit (-273.15 degrees C). On the Kelvin scale, its value is zero degrees. While this temperature has never quite been reached in a lab or observed in space, scientists have been able to observe the odd behavior and properties of matter that reaches temperatures approaching absolu
Absolute Zero is the temperature at which the molecular motion ceases and the average kinetic energy of molecules becomes zero. Absolute Zero is the lowest attainable temperature. It is -273 in the Celsius scale. In other words. at -273 Celcius everything freezes and the molecular motion (molecules move around hitting other molecules) stops…
