# temp question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temp-question/367821>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 8, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temp-question/367821 "2006-08-08T05:39:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temp-question/367821/1 "2006-08-08T05:39:47Z")

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Without the sun, would the tempeture of the earth be absolute zero?

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temp-question/367821/2 "2006-08-08T05:48:12Z")

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Well, there geothermal heat generated by radioactive decay at Earth’s core, and Isaac Asimov’s _The Measure of the Universe_ says the universe’s average temperature is 3[sup]o[/sup] Kelvin, so… no.

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**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temp-question/367821/3 "2006-08-08T05:52:48Z")

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No, you’d get some tiny amounts of energy in the form of radioactive decay, residual geothermal heat from the formation of the Earth, unbelievably tiny amounts from starlight, and friction and impact energy from meteorite impacts. Absolute zero is an idea that has never (to my knowledge, anyway) been observed, even in the laboratory.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temp-question/367821/4 "2006-08-08T05:57:17Z")

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Heat from the core would make it a bit warmer than 2.7°K, the temperature of the [cosmic microwave background radiation](http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_sp_ht.html).

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**Author:** ![jimbeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/858c86/32.png) [@jimbeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbeam)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temp-question/367821/5 "2006-08-08T07:19:58Z")

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No