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Whose Name Is on the Kelvin Temperature Scale?
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Quick Answer
The kelvin is named after William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, who proposed an absolute temperature scale in 1848.
The Full Story
William Thomson, a physicist at the University of Glasgow, proposed an absolute temperature scale in 1848 based on the laws of thermodynamics. Its zero point, absolute zero, is the lowest possible temperature, equal to minus 273.15 °C. Thomson was made Baron Kelvin in 1892, taking the title from the River Kelvin near his university. The kelvin is the SI base unit of temperature and, since 1968, is written without the word 'degree'. In 2019 it was redefined using a fixed value of the Boltzmann constant.
Key Facts
1.A change of 1 kelvin equals a change of 1 degree Celsius.
2.Water freezes at about 273.15 kelvin.
3.Kelvin helped plan the first successful transatlantic telegraph cables.
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"What is absolute zero, and who named it?"