With all the cold weather we’ve been experiencing recently, I’m sure you’ve been wondering: “Mathman, can you make it any warmer?” Well, the answer is no and yes.
Due to the wonders of modern Math (and some science too) I can make the point at which water freezes feel like 273. 273 what? Rutabagas? Chickens? Steelers? Well, actually 273 Kelvin. How did we arrive at that number? What’s a Kelvin?
First, a Kelvin is a unit of measuring temperature. When you refer to an answer that is measured in Kelvin, you should say “Kelvin”, NOT “degrees Kelvin”. Saying “degrees Kelvin” is like saying “Me and Elvis seen Bigfoot at the mall”. It makes you look like you don’t know what you’re really talking about.
We’re not used to using Kelvin or even degrees Celsius when measuring temperature; we’re used to using degrees Farenheit, so it makes sense that we should start with what we know. We know that water freezes at 32 degrees Farenheit. Our formula sheet (especially for the 8th grade citizens of BJHS) tells us that: C=5/9 (F-32). The C is degrees Celsius, the F is degrees Farenheit, and the (F-32) is being multiplied by 5/9 or approximately .56. I know what you’re saying, Now wait a minute (or 60 seconds) Mathman, that gives me C=5/9 (32-32) which is C=5/9 *0 or C=0. That seems colder than the 32 we started with. Good point, but wait, there’s more.
But first an instant replay (maybe a bit easier to follow along):
C=5/9 * (F-32) when F=32
C=.56 * (32-32) ---(Note, we used .56 for 5/9 in this step)
C=.56 * 0
C=0
When it's 32 degrees Farenheit, it's 0 degrees Celsius.
After we get our answer of C=0, we need to convert the degrees Celsius to Kelvin. This is the bonus of visiting the super somewhat secret blog of Mathman. FREE FORMULA ALERT! To convert Celsius to Kelvin, use the formula K=C+273. For our example that gives us: K=0+273, which becomes K=273. Thus 273K is the temperature at which water freezes.
By using the formulas we have, you could find out that it is 255K when it is 0 degrees Farenheit, or 308K when it is 95 degrees Farenheit.
Cool, huh? Or wait, that seems pretty hot.