Is there a lower temperature than absolute zero?

Question

I understand that the lowest temp is about -460 degrees F and is measured in radiation left over from the beginning of the universe, but I heard somwhere that temps lower than this can be achieived right here on Earth making our planet the coldest place in the universe. Is this true? Also, isn't absolute zero measured as 0 kelvin about -232 C? What are the real numbers? Please help...

Answer 1

Temperature can be negative on an absolute scale, but a system with a negative temperature is actually HOTTER than infinite temperature. How "hot" something is goes like minus the inverse of the temperature.



There is nothing colder than absolute zero, though.

Answer 2

Absolute zero is the coldest temperature. The closest temperature achieved was here on earth and not in space. It is done in Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) experiments, though there are similar experiments that get nearly as cold. In fact, we can make refrigerators that colder than the coldest temperature in space, but they don't get BEC cold. To get that cold, you need to use laser cooling (gets you most of the way) followed by a evaporative cooling (gets you the rest of the way).



There are, however temperatures below absolute zero. But these are in systems where temperature is ill-defined and could be viewed either as lower than absolute zero or higher than infinity. An example of such a system is the lasing medium of a laser, where there is a 'population inversion'. The temperature of that system just is not very well defined and if you used the typical definition, you would have a negative temperature. That doesn't mean the laser is colder than absolute zero, and what exactly that does mean is too difficult to easily explain.

Answer 3

The lowest temperature observed in space is, indeed, higher than the lowest temperature achievable on Earth. According to the Guinness World Records, the coldest temperature observed in space is about 1 K. However, temperatures less than 10^-6 K have been created in laboratories (look it up if you want a better upper bound.) Absolute zero is about -273.15 or -273.16 °C , depending on what resource you consult. Absolute zero is defined as the temperature at which heat energy is zero; it is not defined as the coldest temperature in space. In order for an object to have a temperature less than absolute zero, it would have to have negative entropy, which is a physical impossibility.

Answer 4

There's a clue in the name... Absolute Zero. 0 Kelvin, -273 c, -460 f is the lowest possible temperate nothing can be lower. It is not connected with left over radiation from the big bang, that is something else entirely. It is a measure of the energy in a body. All atoms vibrate, as energy is removed the vibration is slower until all energy is remove and the vibration stops. This is Absolute Zero.

Answer 5

heat is atoms bouncing randomly off each other(more or less). as you cool an object you lower the average speeds of these bouncing atoms. if an object we're every to reach absolute zero the atoms would be perfectly stationary, and to cool it further you would need to slow down the atoms to a point beyond stationary, which makes no sense. the measured cosmic background radiation is ~3 kelvin, and it is possible for scientists to cool stuff to below 3 kelvin, but never to 0 kelvin, and most definitely not beyond that.

Answer 6

NO! At absolute zero the electrons stop moving so there is no more thermal energy(thats what temperature is). Just like water can't get hotter than 212 degrees, nothing can get below absolute zero.

Answer 7

This are just myths my friend. Matter will not allow all its heat energy to be lost to such an extent absolute zero is 273.15. This temperature can not be measured to a lower extent. Physics won't allow it.

Answer 8

There is no lower temperature. That's why it's called absolute zero.

Answer 9

nope! -273.15 is the lowest possible temperature...even in the coldest parts of the universe

Answer 10

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

heat is the vibration of molecules

absolute zero is when molecules completely stop moving

there is no "negative motion"

so absolute zero is the coldest possible temp

however, as stated above,

physics will allow us to get close, but never reach abolute zero because heat can be transferred through all mediums,

even vacuum

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 11

no