How is "absolute zero" defined?

jbean

The temperature at which all molecular motion stops -273 degrees [Feb 11 04 7:22 PM] jbean writes: -273C that is, and molecular movement doesn't 'stop' per se, but slows to nearly none Feb 11 04, 7:20 PM

sequoianoir

According to the kinetic theory there would at absolute zero be no movement of individual particles. For the case of free atoms at temperatures approaching absolute zero, most of the energy is in the form of translational motion and the temperature can be measured in terms of the speed of this motion, with slower speeds corresponding to lower temperatures. In fact because of quantum mechanical effects, the speed at absolute zero is not precisely zero, but depends, as does the energy, on the size of space within which the atom is confined. At absolute zero the molecules and atoms in a system are all in the ground state (i.e. the lowest possible energy state) and the system has the least possible amount of kinetic energy allowed by the laws of physics. This minimum energy corresponds to the zero point energyencountered in the quantum mechanical particle in a box problem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zero Feb 11 04, 7:35 PM

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