Absolute Zero 1

Absolute Zero
Jesus Daniel Lopez
Thermodynamics 132L
April 27, 2015

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Introduction
For this lab the purpose was to collect data so we could obtain a
graph and see if the data of pressure vs temperature would have a yintercept of -273K. Two different experiments were done for this lab. One
consisted of cooling hot water and the other consisted of cooling cold water.
The equipment used measure our data consisted of a bulb capable of
measuring pressure and temperature which was used with DataStudio to
collect the data.
Experimental Procedure
For Experiment 1 we started with hot water. We placed the bulb into
the hot water which measured a temp of 51.1C. Once the temperature
stabilized we would add cold water slowly while mixing it with the bulb. We
would take data every couple of degrees. We continued doing this until the
water temperature would not go any lower which was at 13.2C. We then
fitted the data and recorded it. For Experiment 2 we started with cold
water. We added salt to make it 7M saltwater and mixed until the salt was
dissolved. We then inserted the bulb until the temp stabilized at 8.4C. We
then added dry ice into the water and recorded the temperature changes
like in Experiment 1 until we reached -20.8C which was the lowest we
could get it to. We then fit the data and then collected it.

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Analysis and Results

Table I: Temperature vs Absolute Pressure

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Gra
ph 1: Time vs Temperature and Absolute Pressure

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Gra
ph 2: Absolute Pressure vs Temperature

Equation 1: Percent Error

Table I shows the data points collected between both experiments.
Run1 is for Experiment 1 and Run 2 is for Experiment 2. For Experiment 1
the y-intercept is -284C 5.6C and for Experiment 2 it is -266C 3.7C.
Calculating percent error using Equation 1 with absolute zero being -273C
for Experiment 1 yields a percent error of 4.1%2.1% and for Experiment 2
yields 2.3%1.1%. Both experiments have percent errors within reasonable
margins while Experiment 1 having a lower error. The low error received

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could have been from the extra heat in the room as the room was not cold
or from the equipment not being precise and having some error. The
experiment was still within expected values.
Questions
1. Since we were measuring data at 10Hz I will estimate that the relaxation
time for the systems we measured are around 0.1 seconds. This justifies the
measuring time of 10Hz we were supposed to follow. By measuring 10 Hz
instead of 5Hz or even 1Hz, it allows the data to be constantly refreshed
since we are changing the temperature of the systems quickly by rapidly
cooling them.
2. The assumptions of the ideal gas law are that the gas consists if a large
number of molecules, the volume of the molecules of the gas can be
ignored, and that there are no forces between the air molecules as they
have perfect elastic collisions.
3. The fit line assuming the Van der Waals equation of state would be
y=3.2x-284 for Experiment 1 and y=3.0x-266 for Equation 2
4. Salt water can be -20C because the salt drops the freezing point of
water. The salt interferes with water freezing into crystals which results in a
lower freezing point.
5. It would be difficult to determine the percentage of water vapor, but it
would most likely be below 1% as the water was being cooled down. Water

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can be in equilibrium with water vapor but the amount there is at any given
time is really low.
6. The change in volume of the sphere can be accounted by an increase in
the pressure of it. Since PV=nRT P is the only variable that can be changed.
7. The absolute value of Experiment 1 was -284C with an uncertainty of
6C while for Experiment 2 it is -266C with an uncertainty of 4C.
8. From Experiment 1 and 2, the fits only differ by 18C. The fit that showed
to be more accurate was from Experiment 1. Experiment 2 fit may have had
error due to the equipment not being able to handle low temperatures as
well as heat from the environment affecting Experiment 2.
Conclusion
Overall the experiment went well. Our measured results were close to
the expected as they only had an error of 5%. The data clearly shows that
absolute zero is around -273C, which is the point where temperature and
absolute pressure are zero. Error from this experiment could have come
from the equipment as well as from heat from the environment for
Experiment 2.