Chemistry / Unit 1 Chem 0094 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Kelvin and Celsius
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The idea
The kelvin is SI's unit of temperature; Celsius shares its degree size but places zero at water's freezing point, not absolute zero.
In practice
A change of one degree Celsius equals one kelvin, but 0 °C is roughly 273 K, not 0 K.
Where people slip
Kelvin values are never written with a degree symbol — a habit carried over from Celsius and Fahrenheit that is incorrect.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- 0111Converting Between Temperature Scales
- 1224Amontons's Law: Pressure and Temperature
- 1227Charles's Law: Volume and Temperature
- 1427Estimating Enthalpy of Vaporization from Two Data Points
- 1660Solving the First-Order Integrated Rate Law for Time or Concentration
- 1698Determining Activation Energy From Rate Constants at Two Temperatures
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