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POINTS ABOUT TEMPERATURE

There are several different scales of temperature, but only two of them are in common use. The Fahrenheit st;ale, which is the one by which they measure weather temperatures in Australia, is in general use in English-speaking countries. In this scale, water freezes at 32 degrees, and boils at 212 degrees, so there are 180 degrees between the freezing and boiling points of water. The Centigrade, or metric scale, is used in most European countries, and by scientists everywhere. In this scale, the freezing point of water is 0 degrees, and the boiling point 100 degrees. So you see zero temperature in these two scales, has two different meanings; in other words, zero in either of them is only something that tho inventor of the scale had decided on himself. But there is another and quite different zero, called absolute zero, which is a tcmperaturo so low that there can be nothing colder than it! Absolute zero has been placed at 273 degrees below the freezing point of water (in the Centigrade scale), and the reason for the choice of this figure is curious. It is well known that gas, any gas at all, contracts by a definite and unvarying amount for every degree b.y which tho temperature is lowered. Calculations show that if a gas were to be cooled to i ust 273 degrees below 0 degrees centigrade it would contract so much, that it. would have no volume at all! So scientists assume that 273 degrees below zero marks (he temperature where no heat at all exists — that is, it is absolute zero. ISo one has yet succeeded in freezing anything as cold as absolute zero, though scientists have got as low as 270 degrees below, which is very near it. At a tcmperaturo like that all matter changes its nature. Liquids become solids, and solids change considerably. Thus brittle substances like glass become quite elastic, and metals become very brittle. The flesh of animals heroines so brittle that a small creature like a mouse, if frozen to a very low temperature, will shatter to pieces if it is dropped or struck sharply.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19331104.2.181.41.13

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21640, 4 November 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

Word Count
358

POINTS ABOUT TEMPERATURE New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21640, 4 November 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

POINTS ABOUT TEMPERATURE New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21640, 4 November 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

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