Why is it not possible to cool a gas at 0k?
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First of all, the gas will no longer be a gas at absolute zero, but rather a solid. As the gas is cooled, it will make a phase transition from gas into liquid, and upon further cooling from liquid to solid (ie. freezing). Some gases, such as carbon dioxide, skip the liquid phase altogether and go directly from gas to solid.
Now the question is: what are the atoms in the solid doing (if anything) at absolute zero. Are they totally motionless? The answer is no. Atoms, being very tiny particles, must be analyzed using quantum mechanics, and one of the cornerstones of this theory is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP).
The HUP states that the uncertainty of a particle's position and momentum (mass times velocity) are not independent of each other; the product of these uncertainties must be greater than a certain value. In equation-ese:
(position uncertainty)*(momentum uncertainty) > h
The number 'h' is called Planck's constant, and pops up throughout quantum mechanics. This equation requires the atoms in the solid to have a certain amount of intrinsic jitteriness, even at absolute zero. If the atoms were totally motionless, then both the position and momentum uncertainties would be zero, disobeying HUP.
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First of all, the gas will no longer be a gas at absolute zero, but rather a solid. As the gas is cooled, it will make a phase transition from gas into liquid, and upon further cooling from liquid to solid (ie. freezing). Some gases, such as carbon dioxide, skip the liquid phase altogether and go directly from gas to solid.
Now the question is: what are the atoms in the solid doing (if anything) at absolute zero. Are they totally motionless? The answer is no. Atoms, being very tiny particles, must be analyzed using quantum mechanics, and one of the cornerstones of this theory is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP).
The HUP states that the uncertainty of a particle's position and momentum (mass times velocity) are not independent of each other; the product of these uncertainties must be greater than a certain value. In equation-ese:
(position uncertainty)*(momentum uncertainty) > h
The number 'h' is called Planck's constant, and pops up throughout quantum mechanics. This equation requires the atoms in the solid to have a certain amount of intrinsic jitteriness, even at absolute zero. If the atoms were totally motionless, then both the position and momentum uncertainties would be zero, disobeying HUP.
I hope it help you.
Please mark me brainlist
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First of all, the gas will no longer be a gas at absolute zero, but rather a solid. As the gas is cooled, it will make a phase transition from gas into liquid
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