![]() ![]() The temperature unit bearing his name, the kelvin (K), is the one most commonly used by scientists worldwide. The person most associated with the concept of absolute zero is William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin. (Image credit: Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images) The Kelvin temperature scaleĪ photo of William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin. Using this technique, Lambert calculated absolute zero to be minus 270 degrees Celsius (minus 454 Fahrenheit), which was remarkably close to the modern accepted value of minus 273.15 C (minus 459.67 F), according to Britannica. It should be rather simple, then, to extend the line backward and read the temperature where the line crosses the x axis, i.e., where y = 0, indicating zero pressure. If one were to plot the temperature-pressure relationship of the gas on a graph with temperature on the x (horizontal) axis and pressure on the y (vertical) axis, the points would form an upward-sloping straight line, indicating a linear relationship between temperature and pressure, according to Florida State University. It was reasonable for Lambert to assume that if the temperature of the gas could be brought to absolute zero, the motion of the gas molecules could be brought to a complete stop so they could no longer exert any pressure on the walls of the chamber. The hotter it gets, the faster the molecules move, and the greater the pressure they exert when they collide with the walls of the container. This is because the temperature of a gas is a measure of the average speed of the molecules in the gas. When a gas is heated in a confined space, its pressure increases. Lambert based this calculation on the linear relationship between the pressure and temperature of a gas. In her book, "The Story of Physics" (Arcturus, 2012), Anne Rooney wrote, "The third law of thermodynamics requires the concept of a minimum temperature below which no temperature can ever fall - known as absolute zero." She continued, "Robert Boyle first discussed the concept of a minimum possible temperature in 1665, in ' New Experiments and Observations Touching Cold', in which he referred to the idea as primum frigidum."Ībsolute zero is believed to have been first calculated with reasonable precision in 1779 by Johann Heinrich Lambert, according to Jaime Wisniak of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. ![]()
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