Is there any physical parameter that is NOT a function of temperature?

Factual Questions
1

Seems like everything is a function of temperature (length, volume, viscosity, resistance, etc.). And every measurement instrument in our lab has a “temperature coefficient.”

Is there any physical parameter that is not a function of temperature?

2

WAG: Time?

3

mass

Haj

4

Radioactive decay?

5

Atomic number

6

mass?

7

I swear hajario’s post wasn’t there when I checked…

8

Yes, mass is one. Molar mass (the number of molecules in a sample) would be another. These would both hold only if there is no reaction or physical process that might alter the mass. For example, if you set a beaker of water on a bench, its mass would change over time due to evaporation, and the rate of change would depend on temperature.

9

If you include relativistic effects, I think mass would increase as temperature rises. You can think of it as relativistic mass of atoms moving fast, or simply as E=m c[sup]2[/sup] (E increases because heat is energy).

Also… I don’t think electrical charge changes with temperature.

10

Speed of light

11

Gravity, Electromagnetic forces, friction there are plenty.

12

Volume, according to Stephen Wright:

13

Gravity is not a physical parameter of something. The gravitational forces between two object will vary as temperature expands and contracts the objects. This will be very subtle so I would think that only extreme cases could be measured. The electrical properties of things change greatly with temperature. Friction between things change greatly with temperature.

14

Not true. Scientists have conducted experiments on a state of matter called Bose-Einstein Condensation just above the temperature of absolute zero (-460°F) in which light moved at a modest 38 MPH.

15

Perhaps. But doesn’t electric charge come in discrete quantities? I was thinking more along the lines of continuously-variable parameters.

16

The speed of light in any material medium is less than the speed of light in a vacuum. In polyethylene, for example, the speed of light is about 0.7 c. It’s the quantity c, the speed of light in a vacuum, that considered to be invariant.

17

This is true… X number of water molecules at 25 °C will have more mass than X number of water molecules at 5 °C.