7 ms·
Is there an element or compound in the universe that will remain a gas at 0K? Does everything become solid at that temp?
by crimsonalucard1 6y ago
Is there an element or compound in the universe that will remain a gas at 0K? Does everything become solid at that temp?
- eganist 6y agoIntuitively I would think so since 0K is a motionless state. By definition everything would be solid because nothing would be capable of e.g. filling a given volume, or for that matter, doing any action at all. But this isn't my field of expertise.
- dmitrygr 6y agoComplete lack of motion would violate Heisenberg uncertainty principle ("no motion" == "I know both momentum and location with zero uncertainty" and that's not allowed)
- whatshisface 6y agoNo, you can have zero momentum. However it comes along with having a position wavefunction that fills the whole universe.
- rrmm 6y agoHey let's probe the boundary conditions of the universe.
- NikolaeVarius 6y agoThe boundary condition is that at some arbitrary point god smacks you and tells you to knock it off
- outworlder 6y agoCareful now, you don't want to crash the simulation. It already slows down when you are moving too fast.
- dmitrygr 6y agoPrecisely. But that doesn't work for OP's question since the whole universe isn't at 0K.
- interestica 6y ago> However it comes along with having a position wavefunction that fills the whole universe. I love that this sentence exists. Because it's absurd and enlightening at the same time.
- jandrese 6y agoThe universe kindly requests that you do not divide by zero.
- Koshkin 6y agoBecause it does not want to be Bourne Again.
- pppaul 6y agoBE condensate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_condensate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_condensa...
- nickhalfasleep 6y ago0K implies no Brownian motion at all (no thermal energy), so there would be no force to keep the molecules apart.
- Koshkin 6y agoActually, in some substances the molecules are further apart in the solid than they are in the liquid phase.
- caymanjim 6y agoTo be pedantic, it's impossible to get to 0K due to quantum fluctuations. Even empty deep space is over 2K. In laboratory settings, we've gotten way below 1K. I don't think anything qualifies as a gas at that temperature. It'd be a solid or a BEC.
- radioactivist 6y agoThis is true, but doesn't have anything to do with quantum mechanics -- the third law of thermodynamics is basically a statement that you can't cool things to absolute zero.
- crimsonalucard1 6y agoYour input caused me to google a video about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kswiDQ2aAKA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kswiDQ2aAKA Very intereting!
- aj7 6y agohttps://m.timesofindia.com/home/science/Lowest-temperature-ever-in-universe-recorded-at-Italian-lab/articleshow/44907265.cms https://m.timesofindia.com/home/science/Lowest-temperature-e...
- radioactivist 6y agoHelium does not solidify down to the lowest temperatures that have been achieved (at standard pressure). Though it does become a superfluid, which is a distinct phase of matter from a gas/liquid.