The entire point of the temperature unit "Kelvin" is that it is not a matter of degrees.
By
D'Archangel
on July 02, 2007
If you want to watch me explode, just use the phrase "degrees Kelvin" in my presence. That's pig-ignorant and no one should do it. Ever.
To explain: Until we figured out the lowest possible temperature, our temperature scales were normed against an arbitrary zero-point. Among other things, this meant that you could not do certain kinds of math with them: 20 degrees C is not "twice as warm" as 10 degrees C. It is twice as far from the arbitrary zero point, which means almost nothing. To put it another way, the degree by which it varies from the arbitrary zero point is twice as large.
0 Kelvin is as cold as it gets. It's a natural zero point. The actual size of a unit doesn't matter so much as the fact that "zero" is a meaningful concept. Because the Kelvin scale is expressed as variance from a natural norm rather than variance from an arbitrary norm, you *can* do math with it. A system at 300 Kelvins literally contains twice as much heat as the same system at 150 Kelvins. A gas confined in a stable volume exhibits twice as much pressure at 400 Kelvins as it does at 200 Kelvins.[1]
This is awesome. It is important. And using the phrase "degrees Kelvin" means that you are an ignorant fuckwit.
So don't do it. Ever.
D'A
[1]: Ideally speaking.
Agreed
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Discussion (3)
It is for certain definitions of 'degree.'
[But yes, I agree]
I'm disappointed in you, D'A.
The phrases "degrees kelvin" and "degrees absolute" (the latter of which was actually considered official) were perfectly acceptable until 1967, when the unit increment of the Kelvin scale was renamed to just "kelvin" (represented by the symbol K). It's hardly fair to get all pissy at someone for accidentally using the old official term.
By the way, the standard convention is not to capitalize the word "kelvin" when referring to the unit. It's only capitalized when used to describe the scale (as in "the Kelvin scale").
*research*
Well, don't I feel dumb.
I'm wrong, Ryan is right, my vehemence at the world above was more than a little bit misplaced.
So, uh, yeah. Move along.
D'A