ABSOLUTE ZERO Karina Aliaga

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 Cl 2 and NH 3 under certain pressures. However he could not liquefy O 2, N 2 and H 2 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. 1 st Oxygen liquefies at 90 K 2 nd Nitrogen liquefies at 77 K 3 rd 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 Sun 1000 K Metals Melt 4 K Helium Liquefies 10-3 K Ultra Cold Refrigerator 10-6 K Laser Cooling 10-9 K Magnetic Cooling 300 K Room Temp. 0 K ABSOLUTE ZERO 100 K Air Liquefies 20 K Hydrogen Liquefies

OBJECTIVES: THE EXPERIMENT 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/>.