The British amateur who debunked the mathematics of happiness (2014)

Re:The British amateur who debunked the mathematics of happi... by mietek on Sunday March 04, 2018 @04:14PM (#16516791)

> Zero C is not very special. Zero Kelvin is!

I agree that Fredrickson is grasping for relevance. However, 0 °C is special to water-based lifeforms.

0 °C is defined as 273.15 K, or the temperature at which the three phases of water are in a thermodynamic equilibrium — at a pressure of 1 atm, or 1 standard atmosphere.

The degree Celsius is defined as equal to the kelvin, so the Celsius scale is a shifted version of the Kelvin scale.

https://www.bipm.org/en/publications/si-brochure/kelvin.html

https://www.bipm.org/jsp/en/ViewCGPMResolution.jsp?CGPM=10&R...

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Re:The British amateur who debunked the mathematics of happi... by leereeves on Sunday March 04, 2018 @04:26PM (#16516860)

Isn't 0.01 °C the triple point of water (the temperature at which the three phases of water are in a thermodynamic equilibrium)?

The triple point is a better standard and is used now, but it's not exactly 0 °C because that was defined by calling the melting point of water 0 °C.

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Re:The British amateur who debunked the mathematics of happi... by ars on Sunday March 04, 2018 @04:45PM (#16516955)

> 0 °C is special to water-based lifeforms.

Only those who happen to live at exactly 1 atmosphere of pressure.

And ordinary (unpurified) water doesn't freeze at exactly 0 anyway.

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Re:The British amateur who debunked the mathematics of happi... by RachelF on Sunday March 04, 2018 @04:23PM (#16516839)

Actually, to off-topic nitpick, the triple point of pure water is at 0.01°C (273.16K), not 0°C

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