When calculating the temperature in space, it is important to understand that most estimates must take into account the varied makeup of space. Outer space is the portion of the universe which is almost entirely empty. Unlike the small pockets of our universe which are inhabited by stars, planets, and other large sections of matter, outer space contains very, very little. Nonetheless, it is not entirely empty, and this is important to understand when considering the temperature in space.
The short answer is that the temperature in space is approximately 2.725 Kelvin. That means the universe is generally just shy of three degrees above absolute zero 鈥?the temperature at which molecules themselves stop moving. That鈥檚 almost -270 degrees Celsius, or -455 Fahrenheit.
In one sense, we can talk about the temperature in space as being 2.725 K. This shifts a bit from place to place, but not by much more than a thousandth of a degree. For all intents and purposes, this is the generally accepted temperature in space.
To understand it further, we can look at what a temperature actually is, and what space actually is. When we鈥檙e measuring the temperature of something, what we鈥檙e really talking about is the energy of the molecules in it. It has to do with the density of the molecules, which in turn helps determine how often they run into one another. If they don鈥檛 run into one another, they never really lose their initial energy.
Space is very, very empty. There aren鈥檛 many molecules out there, which means none of the molecules have much of a chance to run into one another. What does this have to do with the temperature in space? If we were to take a random molecule in space, say one that is part of the solar winds, and estimate its temperature, it would probably be around a million or more degrees Kelvin. That鈥檚 because this molecule hasn鈥檛 been bumping into things to get to the temperature it naturally wants to be at 鈥?what is called its equilibrium.
How much sunlight a particular area of space is exposed to also plays an important role in determining the temperature in space in that area. When scientists talk about 2.725 K as the temperature in space, they鈥檙e talking about an average temperature 鈥?actually, what is called the Cosmic Background Radiation, which is the energy still left over from the Big Bang. If we were to look at space a bit closer to home, even somewhere very far away such as just outside of Pluto, the temperature would probably be closer to 35 or 40 K. Still very cold, but nowhere near as cold as somewhere in deep space, far from any sunlight.
So what is the temperature of space? That鈥檚 a bit like asking what the temperature of Earth is. We can find an average, and we can give a good guess for a particular region, but there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Still, 2.725 K is a fairly widely accepted answer to this frequent question, although it does not represent the temperature range that is as expansive as space itself.Those who are intrested in physics look at this...wht do u guys say?
Certainly space which is totally empty of absolutely everything should have the exact value of 0 kelvin.
Therefore if you were actually to measure the temperature of absolute empty space, you would be really measuring the temperature of the virtual particles popping in %26amp; out of existence within the space. This kind of measure is somewhat interesting because it is more likely to be a fundamental constant of space itself rather than a consequence of the CMB temperature.
Quantum Theory's standard approach at rescuing the conservation laws is to limit conservation to what we can be measure but below that level the laws are violated for short distances over brief interval of time. However that never sat quite right with me since it appears too artificial having no real rational reason. The very existence of quantum weirdness must point to a deeper answer since the nuts and bolts of reality depend on it.
A more solid approach would be to say that the conservation laws are strictly obeyed but that instead it is the continuity principle that is being violated. This would have the effect of making non-local entangled pairs of virtual particles with one popping into existence while another, somewhere else, is simultaneously popping out of existence so that it maintains a sum total that is always conserved.
The continuity principle might be the dividing line between virtual particles verses real particles: when the curvature of space was very bent with a lot of potential energy real particles were created to relieve the tension but then as space became less curved the continuity principle became less dominate leaving a virtual remnant to matter synthesis.
You might be wondering just how can you have a big bang with such stick conservation laws. The answer is to realize that space %26amp; time will cancel itself out of existence as a singularity solution.
The only thing you would need to realize is that the vectors and scalars would not start at null vectors or zero scalars because there is no more ground space to take a value in anymore but instead it would collapse to nothing .i.e. a ground space violation. This would make nothing into the complete destructive interference of everything including space %26amp; time with itself.
To see this approach as the first quantum event requires the right manifold and here it is:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;鈥?/a>
This leads me to think that all quantum events are a matter of partial interference from space instead of nothing.
It has been clear for some time now that quantum theory is in desperate need of being rationalized this may provide a doorway to that direction.
When one is confronted by quantum weirdness there is only really two reactions one can have either you will embrace its irrationality turning increasingly to the mystical path or you will say to yourself "ah there must be something more to discover here".
So this what I think that spatial temperatures are inseparable from quantum questions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment