# Can Absolute Zero be created in the lab? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369 "2012-01-23T04:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/1 "2012-01-23T04:56:58Z")
See subject. You always read “1/zillionth above…”. Molecules stop. Apparatus isn’t apparatus any more. OK. But it wouldn’t last long. (I doubt there’s a chance of an Ice-9 scenario.) You need infinite input energy? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/2 "2012-01-23T05:13:25Z")
Actually achieving absolute zero would be a violation of the Third Law of Thermodynamics. And in this house, we obey the Laws of Thermodynamics. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/3 "2012-01-23T05:24:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually achieving absolute zero would be a violation of the Third Law of Thermodynamics. And in this house, we obey the Laws of Thermodynamics. There’s something about flying a kite at night that’s so unwholesome. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/4 "2012-01-23T05:25:11Z")
best line ever. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/5 "2012-01-23T05:32:03Z")
Ice IX, on the other hand, isn’t all that hard to create. Only need to go down to temperatures about 140 degrees over absolute zero. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/6 "2012-01-23T05:59:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually achieving absolute zero would be a violation of the Third Law of Thermodynamics. And in this house, we obey the Laws of Thermodynamics. Thanks, sort of. I still need Amanda Hugg on this crystal Nernst thing. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/7 "2012-01-23T06:07:12Z")
People can seldom make absolute zero in tests. Long hard concentration merits something good. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/8 "2012-01-23T06:12:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually achieving absolute zero would be a violation of the Third Law of Thermodynamics. And in this house, we obey the Laws of Thermodynamics. Given that the laws of thermodynamics actually arise from the statistical behavior of molecules (don’t they?), might there not be rare chance fluctuations down to true absolute zero? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/9 "2012-01-23T06:31:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually achieving absolute zero would be a violation of the Third Law of Thermodynamics. And in this house, we obey the Laws of Thermodynamics. I hate it here! I wish I’d never expanded from the initial singularity! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/10 "2012-01-23T06:44:43Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > I hate it here! I wish I’d never expanded from the initial singularity! You can never leave the house. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/11 "2012-01-23T06:50:04Z")
There was an excellent [Nova on this subject](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3501_zero.html) a few years ago. _Imagine that room temperature is represented by London, thousands of kilometers from here. Then on that scale, if we imagine right here where I’m standing in Boulder is absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature, then how close are we to absolute zero? If we think of London as being room temperature and right where I am is absolute zero, then Bose-Einstein condensation occurs just the thickness of this pencil lead away from absolute zero._ ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/12 "2012-01-23T08:15:46Z")
The laws of thermodynamics: you can’t win, you can’t break even, and you can’t get out of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/13 "2012-01-23T10:21:42Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Given that the laws of thermodynamics actually arise from the statistical behavior of molecules (don’t they?), might there not be rare chance fluctuations down to true absolute zero? Well, temperature itself is only a statistical quantity, which only really has a meaning in the average. Besides, every (bound) quantum mechanical system has a minimum energy below which it can’t drop, so I don’t think there’s even a theoretical chance to go down all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/14 "2012-01-23T11:00:26Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Besides, every (bound) quantum mechanical system has a minimum energy below which it can’t drop, so I don’t think there’s even a theoretical chance to go down all the way. What if we painted it blue with a white snowflake design? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/15 "2012-01-23T12:55:08Z")
The problem is, if you achieved absolute zero, you’d have every atom sand particle absolutely still. They’d have a definite location and a definite momentum, so you’d be violating the Uncertainty Principle. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/16 "2012-01-23T15:51:14Z")
But why can’t we get to 0K? What physically or quantumly stops the process? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/17 "2012-01-23T15:57:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The problem is, if you achieved absolute zero, you’d have every \*\*atom sand \*\*particle absolutely still. They’d have a definite location and a definite momentum, so you’d be violating the Uncertainty Principle. Worse than that, you’d have another atom sandler movie. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/18 "2012-01-23T16:07:25Z")
Someone once told me that the only way to get absolute zero in one part of the universe is to make it absolute zero in every part of the universe at once. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/19 "2012-01-23T16:15:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually achieving absolute zero would be a violation of the Third Law of Thermodynamics. And in this house, we obey the Laws of Thermodynamics. So call a cop. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369/20 "2012-01-23T18:50:25Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > I hate it here! I wish I’d never expanded from the initial singularity! I wish I’d read that book by that wheelchair guy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-absolute-zero-be-created-in-the-lab/610369.md?page=2)