ABSOLUTE ZERO
Karina Aliaga
WHAT IS ABSOLUTE ZERO?
 Temperature is a physical quantity that measures the
kinetic energy of particles in matter. It depends on
the oscillations of atoms and molecules.
 As an object is cooled, the oscillations of its atoms
and molecules slow down. For example: Water
(Steam, Water, Ice)
 In all materials there exists a point at which all
oscillations are the slowest they can possibly be.
 This point is called “Absolute Zero.”
GAY-LUSSAC’S LAW
 In 1802, a French scientist, Gay-Lussac made a major discovery related to finding
Absolute Zero.
 The pressure of a fixed mass and fixed volume of a gas is directly proportional
to the gas’s temperature.
 Absolute zero occurs at the temperature
where the3 pressure is Zero.
HOW DO WE FIND ABSOLUTE ZERO?
 Scientists believed that by liquefying gases, extremely low temperatures could be reached.
 Michael Faraday was able to liquefy Cl2 and NH3 under certain pressures. However he
could not liquefy O2, N2 and H2 regardless of the amount of pressure he exerted.
 In 1873, Van der Waals explained that these gases needed to be cooled below a critical
temperature in order to use pressure to liquefy them.
 1st Oxygen liquefies at 90 K
 2nd Nitrogen liquefies at 77 K
 3rd Hydrogen liquefies at 20 K
 In 1895, Helium was discovered!
 In July 10, 1908, Kamerling Onnes liquefied He at 4.2 K
only a few degrees away from Absolute Zero!
GETTING CLOSE TO ABSOLUTE ZERO
 Helium liquefies at 4.2 K, however it can be cooled down to 2 K where a fraction of the
liquid becomes a superfluid. Superfluid is a zero viscosity fluid which will move rapidly
through any pore in the apparatus.
 In the 1920s, quantum theory continue to evolve. Atoms don’t always have to behave like
individual atoms since sometimes they can behave like waves or a combination of both
particles and waves.
 Einstein predicted that at temperatures very close to absolute zero there existed a new state
of matter that followed the quantum rules called Bose-Einstein Condensation.
 In Bose-Einstein Condensate atoms lose their individual identities and form coherent
matter.
THE RACE TOWARDS ABSOLUTE ZERO
 June 5, 1995, Eric A. Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle and Carl E. Wieman from MIT achieved
Bose-Einstein Condensate by using a laser beam on Rb.
5000 K
1000 K
Sun
4 K
Helium Liquefies
10-3 K
Ultra Cold Refrigerator
10-6 K
Laser Cooling
10-9 K
Magnetic Cooling
Metals Melt
300 K
Room Temp.
100 K
Air Liquefies
20 K
Hydrogen Liquefies
0 K
ABSOLUTE ZERO
THE EXPERIMENT
OBJECTIVES:
 To study the relationship between pressure and temperature of a gas sample.
 Determine from the data and graph, the mathematical relationship between pressure
and absolute temperature of a confined gas.
 Find a value for absolute zero from the given data.
PROCEDURE
1.
Obtain materials required for the experiment and set them up.
2.
Prepare the Temperature Probe and Gas Pressure Sensor for data collection.
3.
Open the experiment “07 Pressure-Temperature” from the Chemistry with Vernier folder
of Logger Pro.
4.
Pour 800 mL of hot tap water into beaker 1. Record the pressure and temperature.
5.
Pour 800 mL of room temperature water into beaker 2. Collect and record data.
6.
Pour 800 mL of ice cold water into beaker 3. Collect and record data.
7.
Using Logger Pro, click on the “curve fit” button to obtain the graph.
DATA/OBSERVATIONS
 From the experiment performed, three data points were obtained. By using Logger Pro or
performing mathematical calculations the following is found:
Predicted Value for Absolute Zero
DATA/OBSERVATIONS
CONCLUSION
 To this date, no scientist has been able to reach absolute zero. However, many have been
able to reach 10-9 K of proximity.
 By using a very simple and accessible set-up such as the Logger Pro, we can predict the
magnitude of absolute zero to a satisfactory accuracy. For example, in this experiment
our predicted value is 2.181 K.
 In addition, Gay Lussac’s Law was observed since the experiment demonstrated a direct
linear relationship between temperature and pressure.
FUTURE RESEARCH ON ABSOLUTE ZERO
 Upon reaching such a close proximity of absolute zero by finding the Bose-Einstein
Condensate, scientists are beginning to investigate where they could implement their
findings.
 Ideas:
 Use the Bose-Einstein Condensate to slow down light.
 Ultra cold atoms could be used to store information in the future.
 Creation of quantum computers.
WORKS CITED
"Hyper Physics." 2005. Helium. <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/lhel.html>.
"Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics." 2007. Quantum Dynamics: Bose-Einstein
Condensate.
<http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mpq.mpg.de/cms/mpq/en/depart
ments/quanten/homepage_cms/projects/bec_logo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mpq.mpg.
de/cms/mpq/en/departments/quanten/homepage_cms/projects/index.html&usg=__G95T
Fh2kjiaszcfBxE6uMGjzRP>.
"NOVA." The Conquest to Absolute Zero. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/>.
“Chemistry with Vernier.” Vernier Software & Technology.
<http://ww.vernier.com/cmat/cww.html/>.