Absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature that can exist. It is also the starting point for the Kelvin scale and for the Rankine scale. This temperature is -273.15 ° C (degrees Celsius or centigrade), 0 ° K (degrees Kelvin), or 0 ° R (degrees Fahrenheit).
Summary
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- 1 Affirmation of science
- 1 Discoverer
- 2 Theoretically
- 1 Satyendranath Bose and Albert Einstein
- 3 Real applications of absolute zero
- 4 News
- 1 In the universe
- 5 Sources
Science claim
Science hypothetically asserts that this is the smallest temperature achievable by a body or molecule. It is believed that at this point there is no atomic vibration. In fact at? 273.15 ° C, all the elements or substances that we know of would appear in a solid state and their molecules would neither vibrate nor move.
Discoverer
William Thomson (Baron Kelvin) was a British mathematician and physicist who intuited the existence of absolute zero.
He relied on the fact that when a gas cools, its volume decreases proportionally to its temperature. This means that for each degree of temperature that the gas decreases, its volume also decreases a certain percent.
Observing this behavior, Kelvin calculated that at a temperature of -273.15 ° C the volume of the gas would be zero. Something that may not happen in practice, but nonetheless, you will be surprised by what happens when you approach this temperature.
Theoretically
Theoretically, if an element reached absolute zero, its subatomic particles would have no energy, since the protons and electrons would unite, forming a kind of “quantum mass”.
At this extremely low temperature, the energy level of a substance would be as low as possible. This is because, according to classical mechanics, its particles would lack any movement.
But according to quantum mechanics, this would not be entirely true, since absolute zero has to have a tiny residual energy, called zero point energy. This is so since the Heisenberg principle of indeterminacy must be fulfilled.
When approaching absolute zero, certain surprising phenomena occur in matter such as superfluidity (helium turns into a liquid with almost no viscosity) and superconductivity (greater than that of copper or gold).
At a temperature close to absolute zero, the subatomic particles of the elements gradually lose their energy. They overlap thus creating a kind of super atom, scientifically known as a Bose-Einstein condensate.
Satyendranath Bose and Albert Einstein
The Indian physicist Satyendranath Bose and Albert Einstein foreshadowed in 1924 the existence of a fact called the Bose-Einstein condensate. According to these scientists, at absolute zero the bosons are concentrated in a single quantum state of energy. This theory could finally be demonstrated in 1995 .
Real applications of absolute zero
At temperatures close to absolute zero, superfluids can be created, or even some molecules that are not found at higher temperatures.
Lowering the temperature to this point is very useful for scientists who can thus study the changing characteristics and behavior of certain materials.
We can find a practical application in CERN’s well-known LHC particle accelerator. The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) sometimes works at temperatures of -271.25 ° C.
Some of the experiments carried out in this European installation require the cryogenization of some circuits to make them superconductors. This is achieved with the combination of helium compressors that send liquid nitrogen to the circuits at? 193.15 ° C.
Another practical case would be the superconductors that are currently used in the magnetic levitation systems used (such as in some experimental bullet trains).
Present
Currently, absolute zero is still a theoretical temperature. To date, it has not been possible to reach such a low temperature. But it has been very close, since the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) managed to create temperatures of -273.14 ° C in 2003. It was achieved by cooling a gas within a magnetic field.
Although science can closely approximate this temperature in laboratories, the third law of thermodynamics suggests that absolute zero is impossible to achieve.
In the universe
Within the solar system there is evidence of areas with temperatures close to -240 ° C. They are recorded in places that are in constant shadow, such as craters at the south pole of the Moon.
In deep space, the closest temperature to absolute zero that is known is -272 ° C. Recorded by an artificial satellite, it was detected in the Boomerang Nebula, in the constellation Centaurus, some 5,000 light-years away.
On the other hand, the gas clouds in the universe usually have a temperature of approximately -269 ° C. This cold is produced by cosmic microwave radiation.
