why was kelvin temperature scale devised ?

Answer 1

Temperature is not defined by the "motion of atoms", and negative kelvin temperatures are quite possible. I'm sick of chemists telling me that this is incorrect (including professors who should know better) so for all you self-righteous sheep who believe anything an almighty chemist says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_temperature

The kelvin scale was formulated because absolute zero is a very significant thermodynamic point on the temperature scale (refer to the third law of thermodynamics for more information... it is also the temperature where the ideal gas has zero volume) and it makes calculations much easier to put 0 degrees where the partial derivative of energy with respect to entropy is zero.

Answer 2

To create a temperature scale having an absolute zero below which temperatures do not exist. Absolute zero, or 0 degrees Kelvin, is the temperature at which molecular energy is a minimum, and it corresponds to a temperature of −273.15° on the Celsius temperature scale. The Kelvin degree is the same size as the Celsius degree; hence the two reference temperatures for Celsius, the freezing point of water (0 degrees Celsius), and the boiling point of water (100 degrees Celsius), correspond to 273.15 degrees Kelvin and 373.15 degrees Kelvin, respectively. When writing temperatures in the Kelvin scale, it is the convention to omit the degree symbol and merely use the letter K. The temperature scale is named after the British mathematician and physicist William Thomson Kelvin, who proposed it in 1848.

Answer 3

To give a more "real" description of the amount of heat. Like said above, 0 on the kelvin scale means NO MOVEMENT at ALL. Complete zero.

Anything higher than 0 means it has a certain amount of heat energy. In theory, only one scale of heat measurment is needed. BUt different types are more practical to use in different situations.

Answer 4

to confuse high schoolers.

also, 0 Kelvin is absolute zero - the temperature at which the motion of atoms stops. Celcius is based on the freezing and boiling point of water.

Answer 5

0 degrees kelvin is an important temperature. Assigning it as the reference point is logical.

Answer 6

it has only positive values