Standard 5f Preknowledge
5f) Students know there is no temperature lower than 0 Kelvin.
CALIFORNIA FRAMEWORKS SUMMARY: The kinetic molecular theory is the basis for understanding heat and temperature. The greater the atomic and molecular motion, the greater the observed temperature of a substance. If all atomic and molecular motion stopped, the temperature of the material would reach an absolute minimum. This minimum is absolute zero, or -273.15°C. The third law of thermodynamics states that this temperature can never be reached. Experimental efforts to create very low temperatures have resulted in lowering the temperature of objects to within a fraction of a degree of absolute zero.