Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1912-05-30
LIMIT OF COLD
Absolute Zero and the Way It Is
Defined by Schemes.
POINT OF MOLECULAR DEATH

POINT OF MOLECULAR DEATH
At 1894 Degrees Below tho Fahrenheit
and 273 Degrees Below tho Cent?
grade Zero There Is No Heat. No En-.
orgy and No Motion Within Matter.
Few people have any definite idea
OF the meaning of absolute zero.
When temperatures or degrees Of heat
are mentioned it Is natural for most
people to think Of these degrees as
given on the household or Fahrenheit
scale. with it's freezing point at SO de,
grees and its boiling point at '212.
The space on the Fahrenheit thermom-
eter below the freezing point Of water
is divided into thirty-two equal spaces
down to zero. The other thermome-
ter scale in common use is the cent?
grade scale. with it's boiling point at
100 degrees and it's freezing point ut
zero. The zero points on these two
scales are not the zero Of absolute
temperature or absolute zero. but are
oAAy w S1OIANC POAAIos
Temperature as used and spoken of
in ordinary practice is only relative
and Is measured in reference to two
points-the boiling and freezing points
Of water at sea level. But science
and scientific investigation requires
another scale for its measurements.
which has a theoretically correct zero
point. This scale is called the abso-
lutte scale. with its zero point 273 de-
grees below the zero Of the centigrade
scale and 1894 degrees below that Of
the Fahrenheit zero. This is what is
meant by the zero of absolute temper
allure.
fined According to science. all mat
ter is composed Of small particles or
molecules in ceaseless vibration In the
spaces between them. This molecular
motion, as It is called. is much greater
in gases than it is in liquids or solids.
and the ultimate particles are farther
apart. The idea of absolute zero and
the place assigned to it on the abso-
lutte scale is based or this property of
matter-motion. In gaseous forms OF
matter the motion is greater because
Of the greater space between the parti-
| cles.
To illustrate the meaning of this
imagine a volume of air Of 273 cubic
inches at the temperature Of freezing
water on the centigrade scale Heat
this volume of air to l degree cent?
grade and its volume will have in
creased to 274 cubic inches. and if
heated to 2 degrees its volume will
be 275 cubic inches. Likewise. if the
original volume be cooled l degree be-
low the freezing point of water it's
volume will be decreased by one cubic
inch and become 272 cubic inches.
For every additional decrease Of /
degree the volume will contract one
two-hundred and seventy-third part of
what it was to begin with. so that. if
the cooling is carried far enough. it is
easy to see that at 273 degrees below
the freezing point Of water the volume
will become nothing.
The volume of a gas Is due to the
real volume Of it's individual particles.
together with the volume Of the spaces
between these particles. At ordinary
temperatures these particles are in
swift motion. But for every degree
Of cooling this motion is slackened.
and the paths of vibration become
shorter. This motion continues down
to 273 degrees below the centigrade
zero. where the motion has entirely
ceased and the paths Of the particles
are infinitely short. OF course the gas
under consideration at -273 degrees
will have a volume due to the sum of
the volume occupied by the molecular
particles themselves
This 273 degrees then is the abso
lutte zero. 1t Is the point Of molecular
death. No heat is there: no energy
and consequently no motion. Matter
at this point is entirely m%otionlese
within itself.
The thermometer scales of the world
should be based on it as the logical
starting point. The freezing point of
water. which is zero on the c%entigraLe
scale. referred to the absolute scale is
-2I3 degrees. while the freezing point
of 80 on the Fahrenheit scale is -459.4
degrees on it The ordinary tempera
ture Of a is about 62 degrees F..
or 1914 degrees on the absolute scale.
On the same scale summer heat is
about 1858 degrees F..
The zero of absolute temperature
has nearly been reached in the prepa
ration Of solid hydrogen gas and liquid
helium. The temperature Of liquid.
helium Zone Of the rarest Of gases, is
only about 4 degrees above absolute
zero. SO that the Individual particles
of liquid helium have almost become
motionless. Probably in the neal
neighborhood of absolute zero this gas.
which is the only one that has not
been solidiied. will become solid and
represent matter in it's state of molec-
ular death.-W. G. Dumas in Chicago
RacOr6 Horol6