Kansas City daily journal., 1897-01-17
COLDER THAN AN 1c1cLE.
Places Where Zero Weather would
he Regarded as Tropical.
From the Washington Star.

From the Washington Star.
In recent physics there is nothing more
| interesting than the remarkable expert
| ments carried on by Professor Olszewski,
of Cracow, attempting to reduce the new
element, helium, to n liquid or solid form;
that is, freeze it. The object of Professor
Olszewski's attempt was to gain further
light upon the question which has so long
interested physicists as to what is abso-
lutte zero-the coolest cold in the universe.
If heat be simply the rapidity of the motion
OIL the atoms and molecules which conSti-
tnte matter 1t follows that as the tempera-
ture is reduced this rapidity of motion be-
comes slower and slower, so that there is
a theoretical point at which 1t would cease,
a temperature where all matter is dead"
II reduced this rapidity of motion becomes
diminished in volume with every degree of
temperature, Centigrade. added or taken
away, and the inference from this was that
the numerical expression of absolute zero
was. therefore-273 deg. C. For a long
time this was accepted as correct
several years ago Professor John Dewar
OF London, succeeded, in q series of very
ingenious experiments, first in liquidifying
oxygen and then the air itself and finally
OF OF f@reezing free the air; the latter, by the way,
makes beautiful crystal. The boiling
polnt OF liquid air at atmospheric pressure
Is 20 e, and, therefore, Professor Devar
talg tthought that he was within So c. of the
Professor olszewsk has attained to 96i
g. in his endeavor to liquefy helium; that
70, nllHIil ueS. OF the theoretical coolest
cold, and still his helium does not Iiquefy,
ana sun ne seems as far off from the
object of his search as was Professor De-
war when " 1i he stopped with frozen air.
He Is like polar explorer who has gone
nundreas ro OF miles beyond the farthest point
reaehed by any previous adventurer, only
,.od 10 ma ms pole Of coldest cold still far be-
yond his reach. The deduced point at
which this rare and tenuous gas will take
on q liquid form is 1872 c., and K seems
possible that there are other substances
hal
Ihose who are more familiar with Fahren-
nelt lnan Centigrade readings will better
appreciate the remarkable character of
these experiments in the former notation
a., Inc so.called absolute zero, 273 c., in
+ tfahIenheit means 46l deg. below the tenn
temperature of space is possibly loo deg.
Centisrade below this, then coolest cold. IN
beTn1;' feIS Oh thhrenheit is more than 500 deg.
such as We experience in this country. The
mel tnelnods by which these extraordinary |
man an extension and repetition of the or |
dlEarg methods of making artificial ice
In Professor olszewski.s laboratory, for |
example, he employed four series of tubes. |
lifting one within the other. In the inner
tube was helium; surrounding this was a |
stratum of liquid air, and surrounding the
latter, in turn, was a stratum of iiuuid
oxygen, and, finally, outside of all was a |
stratum of raretied air designed to protect |
cessively exhausted. the substance il con-
tanned was expanded, and as a result re-
ltCeu IN temperature. This, in turn, drew |
off the heat resident in the adjacent tube
and when finally the helium was reduced
TO the lowest possible temperature by this
method, 1t in turn was expanded by reduc-
ng the pressure under which it was held
There was. of course, no direct means of
measuring the depth of cold reached by |
his process; it had, therefore, to be com,
outed by measuring the fall in temperature |
between two given points under a given
ieeree of expansion. and then the rate of |
being known, the temperature
'ould be quickly found. 1t is not easy to |
say just what will be the result to science
IF these interesting experiments but II is
not difficult TO see that IL we find what is
he hottest possible heat. there might be n |
1asis provided for some very valuable spec
llations in physics.