Absolute temperature scale (Kelvin)
Escala absoluta de temperatura y cero absoluto
- Date
- 1848 · confidence high
- Place
- Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- William Thomson (Lord Kelvin)
- People
- 👤 William Thomson1825–1907
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Starting from the Carnot cycle, Kelvin defines a temperature independent of the thermometric substance, with an absolute zero at -273 degrees Celsius. It gives temperature a universal physical meaning.
Absolute zero had already been estimated by Amontons (1702) and Lambert (1779).
What it led to
- Axiomatic thermodynamics
- Cryogenics and the search for absolute zero
- Ideal gas law in modern form
- Boltzmann constant and the definition of the kelvin (2019)
Built on
- Thermometer and temperature scalesc. 1593 (termoscopio) / 1714 (Fahrenheit) / 1742 (Celsius)
- Carnot cycle and maximum efficiency of heat engines1824
- Gay-Lussac's and Charles's law (extrapolation to zero)
- Amontons's thermometer
Made possible
- Second law of thermodynamics and entropy1850-1865
- Superconductivity1911
- Gas thermometry
- Liquefaction of gases (Dewar, Onnes)