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kelvin
kelvin abbr. K, official name in the International System of Units (SI) for the degree of temperature as measured on the Kelvin temperature scale .
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Kelvin temperature scale
Kelvin temperature scale a temperature scale having an absolute zero below which temperatures do not exist. Absolute zero , or 0°K, is the temperature at which molecular energy is a minimum, and it corresponds to a temperature of -273.15° on the Celsius temperature scale . The Kelvin ...
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William Thomson Kelvin, 1st Baron
William Thomson Kelvin, 1st Baron 1824-1907, British mathematician and physicist, b. Belfast. He was professor of natural philosophy at the Univ. of Glasgow (1846-99). He is known especially for his work on heat and electricity. In thermodynamics his work of coordinating the theories of heat held...
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Celsius temperature scale
Celsius temperature scale , temperature scale according to which the temperature difference between the reference temperatures of the freezing and boiling points of water is divided into 100 degrees. The freezing point is taken as 0 degrees Celsius and the boiling point as 100 degrees Celsius. The...
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International System of Units
International System of Units officially called the Système International d'Unités, or SI, system of units adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures (1960). It is based on the metric system . The basic units of length, mass, and time are those of the mks system ...
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Peter Guthrie Tait
Peter Guthrie Tait 1831-1901, Scottish physicist and mathematician. He was professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh from 1860 and conducted important investigations in thermodynamics and the kinetic theory of gases. His early work in mathematics was mainly concerned with quaternions. His writin...
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absolute zero
absolute zero the zero point of the ideal gas temperature scale, denoted by 0 degrees on the Kelvin and Rankine temperature scales, which is equivalent to -273.15°C and -459.67°F. For most gases there is a linear relationship between temperature and pressure (see gas laws ), i.e., gase...
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Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot , 1796-1832, French physicist, a founder of modern thermodynamics; son of Lazare N. M. Carnot. His famous work on the motive power of heat ( Réflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu, 1824) is concerned with the relation between heat and mechanical energy....
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black body
black body in physics, an ideal black substance that absorbs all and reflects none of the radiant energy falling on it. Lampblack, or powdered carbon, which reflects less than 2% of the radiation falling on it, crudely approximates an ideal black body; a material consisting of a carpetlike arrangem...
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expansion
expansion in physics, increase in volume resulting from an increase in temperature. Contraction is the reverse process. When heat is applied to a body, the rate of vibration and the distances between the molecules composing it are increased and, hence, the space occupied by the body, i.e., its volu...
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