Absolute Zero
Posted on: July 23, 2007 - 2:04pm
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Absolute Zero
For those, that can receive BBC4
Absolute Zero (Tue 9pm)
1/2. The Conquest of Cold: Part of the Science You Can't See season. Looking at how science harnessed the art of cooling. From 17th century inventor to Clarence Birdseye, king of frozen food.
Absolute Zero (Wen 9 pm)
2/2. The Race for Absolute Zero: Part of the Science You Can't See season. Scientists James Dewar and Heike Kammerlingh Onnes compete to reach within a few degrees of Absolute Zero.
This is a new science program, ? I'm not sure how dumbed down it will be but it may be of some interest for those with an interest in science, and the history of science
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Is there a way to get this online? Most of the people on here are American. Sounds interesting, but last I heard the were within a fraction of a degree of absolute 0.
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/
Soz I'm unable to locate an online feed, although U-tube might have it post broadcast
Yeah. They are down to pico kelvins.
(wikipedia)
In September 2003, MIT announced a record cold temperature of 450 pK, or 4.5 × 10-10 K in a Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms. This was performed by Wolfgang Ketterle and colleagues at MIT.[3]
for the mathematically dis-inclined, this is .00000000045 degrees above absolute zero.
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Simply amazing. I do, however, wonder what the consequence of achieving absolute zero would be, if any.
I wonder if it's possible. This would mean the motion of the molecules absolutely stopping!
The four horseman of the biblical apocalypse will ride.
..or perhaps nothing. I'm sure it'll be either one or the other.
I wonder if Plague is any good at poker...
One question that I've wondered and never bothered to look up (someone find it and copy and paste it for me please
) is how these crazy cooks came up with absolute zero. I mean, how did they come about realizing that stuff just doesn't get any colder than 0 Kelvin (It was 0 Kelvin... right? It's been a few years since I've even heard the phrase absolute zero).
The simple explanation is absolute zero is the absence of temperature. Temperature is loosely atoms vibrating and banging into each other. When they stop vibrating, it is absolute zero.
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Absolute zero is pretty much impossible. Space is about 2.7K. Even at max entropy, it will still be slightly above 0K.
Kelvin got it by looking at the gas laws. By extrapolating out the data, at about -273ºC, gas has no volume.
Absolute zero cannot be reached. We can, however, get arbitrarily close. If you could reach absolute zero, you could create a machine with 100% efficiency. Of course, that probably wouldn't justify the energy consumption to keep the temperature that low...
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According to quantum theory its not actually possible. Absolute 0 would mean that we had precicelly measured the energy of a particle. Exactly and absolutely its 0. This means that we would measure the mommentum AND position of the particle at the same time precisely. There would be no vibration (hence position is known) and the momentum would also be 0. The heisenburg uncertainty principle prevents this. As we get down to this level the minute quantum uncertainties actually come into play, there is an intrinsic "quantum" temperature due to the intrcinsic uncertainty in a say a partciles position, this is incredibly small but its will always prevent absoulte 0 from being reached. 0 is a precise and definite value and the properties of particles are fundamentally and ireducibly probalalistic in nature.