One of my favs:
If it is zero degrees and it gets twice as cold, how cold is it?
PS
I don’t know.
Another one I’ve thought about:
Is it possible to have a wind-chill factor below absolute zero?
> If it is zero degrees and it gets twice as cold… <
My understanding is that at absolute zero it cannot get any colder. Therefore, at that temperature getting twice as cold (or any amount colder) would not be possible.
Atoms and molecules are always in motion, although normally we don’t notice it. The lower the temperature, the less motion there is. At absolute zero theoretically all motion has stopped.
Since motion can no longer decrease, no further drop in temperature is possible.
🥶
If it was 0 degrees F in your backyard last Winter, twice as cold would be -32.001 F.
Zero F = -17.778 Celsius
-17.778C x2 = -35.556C
-35.556C =-32.001 °F
That silly question derives from two problems:
1) Popular temperature scales (eg: celsius and fahrenheit) that place zero at an arbitrary temperature that has no particular physical significance.
2) A failure to understand what "twice as" means.
3) A failure to understand that "cold", "hot" and similar terms have no objective meaning.
4) a failure to understand what kinetic temperature is.
So, your question can only be addressed in a rational way by first expressing temperature on an absolute scale. "Kelvin" will do just fine.
Second, one must understand that the kinetic "temperature" of an object or substance is a measure of energy in motion of its component atoms or molecules.
Third, one must understand that on an absolute temperature scale, "zero" means a kinetic temperature at which ALL molecular or atomic motion has ceased.
Therefore, a temperature below zero on an absolute scale is meaningless, and your question is also meaningless.
That’s just it. If it’s 0.0001 Kelvin (you don’t use degrees when talking in units Kelvin), “twice” as cold presumably means half as much energy, or 0.00005 Kelvin. But you can infinitely keep making it “twice” as cold without reaching zero.
Alternately, you can think of cold as the ability to rob heat. In that case, you can only get twice as cold as long as you’re no more than half-way towards zero from whatever your basis of measurement is.
That question makes no sense. First of all things can’t be “twice as cold” since “cold” is not a physical concept but rather the absence of molecular energy. Speaking loosely, “twice as cold” would really mean “half as hot”. Since temperature is a measure of “hotness” (or more accurately, molecular energy), if the temperature is absolute zero, you can’t get “half as hot” (half of zero is still zero). The question is analogous to saying “if you build a house at the North Pole, what would you see when you look north from your house?” The question just doesn’t make sense.
Centigrade or Farenheit?
At 0K, electrons stop orbiting the nucleus..................
2 times zero is still zero.