Re:Show HN: Degrees What?
by eru on Tuesday July 04, 2023 @03:31AM
(#36583415)
Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_temperature
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Interesting I wasn't aware of this definition but I would consider that moving the goal posts (not by you to be clear). Since that's using a different definition of temperature, the original poster was referring to the more common definition of temperature where at 0K nothing moves anymore.
> [...] the original poster was referring to the more common definition of temperature where at 0K nothing moves anymore.
That's a common simplification, but not really the definition. At the minimum, quantum mechanical effects make this complicated.
But you are right in a sense. From Wikipedia:
> The absolute temperature (Kelvin) scale can be understood loosely as a measure of average kinetic energy. Usually, system temperatures are positive. However, in particular isolated systems, the temperature defined in terms of Boltzmann's entropy can become negative.