Question:
how does the kelvin scale exist if it has no starting point?
totalangel24
2007-01-14 23:38:34 UTC
the kelvin scale has no starting point so how do we know its freezing or boiling?
Nine answers:
Stephen S
2007-01-15 00:10:05 UTC
We define temperature as a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles that make up our sample. Kinetic energy is the energy that something has because of its movement: the faster it goes, the more kinetic energy it has.



In materials with fast particles, the atoms and molecules are just zooming around, bouncing off each other and everything else. This high energy material we call "gas" or, if it is really energetic and full of ions, "plasma".



Slow everything down and stuff sticks together. This we call a liquid. Slow it down even further, and we have a solid.



Notice that we are slowing stuff down. What is happening to our kinetic energy? It's getting lower. And the temperature? It's getting lower, too (Remember temperature and average kinetic energy are related).



Now, what is the slowest speed that anything can go? Standing still! If it goes backwards, it is still moving so it will have a speed. At the point where everything stands still, the kinetic energy will be zero, just like the speed. And the temperature will be zero, too, since the average kinetic energy of all of these now motionless particles is zero, too.



Theory states that we can get really, really close to Absolute Zero (the 0 point on the Kelvin scale), but never reach it. This has to do with all kinds of things, including the fact that you can't stop electrons from orbiting around the nucleus, etc.
eric l
2007-01-14 23:48:06 UTC
The starting point is the temperature in which all matter freezes. No matter can get below 0 degrees kelvin. Freezing is 271 kelvin. Boiling is 371 kelvin.
The little "T"
2007-01-15 00:45:27 UTC
Kelvin is based to absolute zero and it does not have a starting point; 0 Celsius is equal to 273 Kelvin.
anonymous
2007-01-14 23:45:02 UTC
Each of which the temperature scales have a fix -starting point.Otherwise it can not be measure. T = t + 273

Lord Kelvin =T ,,, t= Celsius degree
dukefenton
2007-01-14 23:42:25 UTC
Huh? Kelvin most certainly does have a starting point; it's called absolute zero. 0 Celsius is equal to 273 Kelvin.
crazyromo
2007-01-14 23:42:21 UTC
0 degrees on the Kalvin scale would absolute 0: a temperature scientists have not yet been able to achieve. 0 Kalvin is the temperature at which all molecular and atomic activity stops.
?
2016-12-16 10:00:28 UTC
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J C
2007-01-14 23:44:36 UTC
I thought it did have a starting point -273.15 degrees Celsius or absolute zero(kelvin).
anonymous
2007-01-14 23:42:50 UTC
It does have a starting point; that point is the temperature at which thermal motion comes to a stop, which is at -273.16 C. For convenience in measurement, other temperatures have been carefully measured, and are used for calibrating instruments.


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