What would happen if you reached absolute zero?

Question

Theoretically if you reached absolute zero you would destroy matter right? would all life as we know it cease to exist?

As the temp get lower so does the volume right? So when you reach absolute zero wouldnt volume=0?

Answer 1

Keep in mind, temp is a measure a kinetic energy. Take water for example. Why is water a solid, liquid, or gas? Lets look at liquid first, since it will give a good starting point. Water, H2O, is a polar molecule. Thus, each water molecule will interact (not react) with 2 other water molecules....those two will attract 4 more, those for attracting 8 more...and so on...so that all molecules in a container are interacting. It is a liquid b/c, at room temp, the amount of kinetic energy present is greater than the polar attraction, and thus weakens the attraction and the molecules are further apart. If we increase the kinetic energy enough to , it will overcome the attraction of polarity and will completely dissociate all interaction, and thus will be a gas. As we lower the kinetic energy, the interaction due to polarity becomse strong and the molecules become closer together. Is absolute zero possible? Yes. If it happened on earth, would life cease to exist? Yes. Would matter be destroyed? No.

The idea of zero volume is how absolute zero was discovered. A graph of temp vs volume was made. The graph made roughly a straight line with a positive slope. If you were to follow the slope down to where the volume on the graph was zero, the temp on every graph of every element was about -273 C, thus being absolute zero and the Kelvin scale.

Answer 2

1) Volume and temparature is not directly inverse of each other. Simple observation: a 300 degree stove is not 15 times bigger than a stove at room temparature.

2) According to Buddism, Life neither exists nor disappeared, life neither created nor destroyed.. It only changes forms.... there's always "life", at 30C, at 0C, at -200C... At absolute 0, you would become another you (perhaps a hard solid figure). When temperature returns to normal, that you will become another you (perhaps a moving figure again). There's a chance that you would be much like you but it is not you.

3) According to Budda, one should stop wondering these improbable questions as they serve no good to his/her soul. It's same as asking whether chicken or egg came first, when did the universe begin.

Having answers to these will not make you a better person, will not make this world a better peaceful place. Spend your energy on giving your love to all living things.

Answer 3

Absolute zero means the complete absence of energy, including the energy that holds atoms together. Therefore matter reduced to that temperature, or rather lack of temperature, would cease to exist.

Answer 4

No, you wouldn't destroy it. All the atoms will be in their lowest energy state and all the other energy states would be depopulated.

Since we need liquid water for life as we know it to exist, then I would say yes, life (as we know it) would cease to exist at absolute zero since there is no liquid water.

Answer 5

temperature is simply a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the particles of the substance you are measuring. at very high temperatures, the particles are zooming around. At very low energies, the particles are barely vibrating. Absoulte zero is unreachable because a particle can never completely stop vibrating.
The vibrations just become harder to detect. But particles can never stop moving, if they did, they'd cease to be particles.

Answer 6

According to Brownian motion, which is the random movement of particle, atoms are constantly moving; we just don't see it.

If we reached absolute zero (0 degrees Kelvin) atoms would stop moving. So our bodies and everything around us would, virtually, fall apart and deteriorate.

Answer 7

If I'm not mistaken, absolute zero is complete stillness of the atom or molecule, no movement whatsoever, which means the COLDEST it could get. So it's a temperature issue, I don't see how it would affect ALL life... just the things around it that are close enough.

Answer 8

At Temp= 0K;
All molecules lose their kinetic energy, meaning they cease to move. This causes fluid and gasous states to no longer exist. As such life would cease as all transport phenomena utilized by living things utilize gas and liquid phases.

Ex. You cannot fixate oxygen in your blood without having a gasous supply in addition your blood can not flow if it is not a fluid.

Answer 9

Things wouldn't cease to exist - they'd still be there but basically nonfunctional and dead. So, life may cease to exist at the temperature, but matter wouldn't be destroyed! It's still matter.

Answer 10

Molecular motion stops and all the atomic parts fall into a tiny pile on the floor, since atoms are mostly space.