A Conversation for Absolute Zero
Degrees Kelvin?
Andrew-66 Started conversation Jul 27, 2007
I watched the 'Absolute Zero' programme on TV the other night.
It was really interesting.
However I think there was a howler right at the end, I was taught that you can have degrees Celcius, degrees Fahrenheit, but not degrees Kelvin.
ie. 273 Kelvin is right, 273 degrees Kelvin is wrong
By the way, I think it should be abbreviated to capital K (273K) because it is a person's name.
Degrees Kelvin?
Gnomon - time to move on Posted Aug 3, 2007
Hi Andrew. I have just corrected this entry, making a few changes including changing the 'degrees Kelvin' to kelvins. Afterwards I noticed your comment here.
You're right that you use a capital K when abbreviating it, so the freezing point of water is 273.15K. But when you write out the unit in full, you use a small k because it is a unit, not a person's name: 273.15 kelvins.
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Degrees Kelvin?
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