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Absolute Zero (pg. 2)
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| Turbonium |
| quote: | Originally posted by starglider
In case anyone's interested, as of a month ago, the world record for coldest temperature ever recorded is held by MIT scientists who cooled a sodium gas to 0.5 nanokelvins -- half-a-billionth of a degree above absolute zero.
*shivers* |
You know what I don't get? They never explain how in the hell they measure it so accurately. I bet you it's one huge conspiracy. |
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| DrUg_Tit0 |
| quote: | Originally posted by mezzir
i was just polishing up (cramming my ass off) for the sat2's i'm taking tomorrow, chemistry among others, and i was reading a little tidbit about absolute zero
its really cool to think about
absolute zero is the theoretical temperature that is so cold that matter ceases to move
also, since gases decrease in volume as temperature decreases, gasses would not exist pretty much
anyone know of any work concerning this? i found it pretty cool |
Actually gasses are already condensing into liquid form at least tens of degrees above absolute zero. What is interesting, though is that when matter reaches temperatures very close to absolute zero, it transforms itself from a solid state into a new state, called Bose-Einstein's condensate. In that state, all the atoms of the subjected material condense and occupy the same point in space. |
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| djSlain |
| quote: | Originally posted by Omegasox
Where do you come up with this stuff? |
| quote: | ]Originally posted by DjSlain
i think ... |
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| Orbax |
sigh. there was a novel written about a mad scientist who said he had a thing that he could drop into oceans and freeze the world.
and basically absolute zero cant be reached because of 2 things, the uncertainty principle and we suck. |
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| whiskers |
| quote: | Originally posted by Turbonium
You know what I don't get? They never explain how in the hell they measure it so accurately. I bet you it's one huge conspiracy. |
that's the problem, they can't really measure absolute zero because at that temperature subatomic movement seizes.
what i don't get is what the hell they is the point of reaching absolute zero. as a purely scientific achievement, maybe, but how can we use it?
btw, mezzir, there was a thread about absolute zero a while ago with some pretty interesting comments, you might wanna try to look it up... some people had rather crazy ideas... :D |
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| 'mju:zik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Orbax
sigh. there was a novel written about a mad scientist who said he had a thing that he could drop into oceans and freeze the world.
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lol its called Cat's Cradle...and thats not exactly a scientific study. :) |
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| Orbax |
| quote: | Originally posted by 'mju:zik
lol its called Cat's Cradle...and thats not exactly a scientific study. :) |
well a thing that would freeze the entire world isnt scientific either :) |
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| Mosaic |
| absolute zero is cold. really cold. |
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| starglider |
| quote: | Originally posted by whiskers
what i don't get is what the hell they is the point of reaching absolute zero. as a purely scientific achievement, maybe, but how can we use it? |
The primary reason for cooling atoms as much as possible is for more accurate atomic timekeeping. Without going into the workings of atomic clocks, the slower the atoms used are moving about, the easier it is to accurately and quantitatively determine their whereabouts; thus lower temperatures leads to better clocks.
And remember that 0 K can never be achieved because the unnattainability of absolute zero is the basis for the Third Law of Thermodynamics (look it up). ;) |
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| Flyboy217 |
At very low temperatures, matter settles into a form known as the Bose-Einstein condensate. It's pretty neat stuff... you can read about it here:
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose-Einstein_condensate
As for absolute zero... yeah, that Third Law bursts your bubble for now ;-) |
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| Abject Silver |
| quote: | Originally posted by DrUg_Tit0
Actually gasses are already condensing into liquid form at least tens of degrees above absolute zero. What is interesting, though is that when matter reaches temperatures very close to absolute zero, it transforms itself from a solid state into a new state, called Bose-Einstein's condensate. In that state, all the atoms of the subjected material condense and occupy the same point in space. |
and that's the story of how they trapped light, little billy.
and yes, even at kelvin nil, there is still some molecular activity. -273 isn't all it's cracked up to be. |
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| PhaseFour |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mosaic
absolute zero is cold. really cold. |
a lot like canada ;) |
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