How did Charles obtain his law when absolute temperature wasn't define

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the historical context of Charles's Law and its relationship to the concept of absolute temperature, particularly in light of the fact that the absolute temperature scale was defined after Charles's Law was established. Participants are exploring the implications of this timeline and questioning how Charles's Law could be referenced without the framework of absolute temperature.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Historical

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about how Charles's Law, established in 1780, can be discussed in relation to absolute temperature, which was defined later by Lord Kelvin in 1848.
  • The same participant notes that references to Charles's Law in the context of the Kelvin scale seem contradictory, as it implies a minimum temperature that was not defined at the time of Charles's work.
  • Another participant suggests that a series of videos on the history of thermodynamics may provide insights into the question raised.
  • A third participant also shares the same video playlist link, indicating that it may contain relevant information.
  • A fourth participant directs the original poster to a Wikipedia article on Charles's Law as a potential source of information.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not appear to reach a consensus on the original question regarding the relationship between Charles's Law and absolute temperature. Instead, multiple viewpoints and resources are shared without resolving the underlying confusion.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the historical development of thermodynamic concepts and the potential for anachronisms when discussing laws that predate certain definitions. There are unresolved assumptions regarding the interpretation of Charles's Law in the absence of an absolute temperature scale.

Ahsan Khan
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The Kelvin temperature (T) was not introduced during the time of Charles, so there was no definition of absolute temperature T during that time how then Charles Proposed that at constant pressure Volume (V);of gas is directly proportional to it's absolute temperature T( V/T= constant) ?
Hi all

These days I am refreshing my knowledge on the concept and measurement of temperature. One way of defining temperature is in terms of how it is measured. This can be done by observing the variation of some properties which vary linearly with the hotness(temperature) of bodies. I studied about Celsius scale, Fahrenheit scale no problem. But when I come to study absolute scale few questions and doubts arises in my mind.

One of doubts is that Charles brought his law in 1780 and the absolute temperature scale by Lord Kelvin came is 1848 right? Now in introduction to Kelvin scale they are referring Charles Law and Boyles Law and use PV=nRT, to arrive at the fact that their is some minimum possible temperature and if we extrapolate the(pressure temperature) P -T graph graph then that minimum temperature is -273.15°C. Which is known to be Zero Kelvin.

This doesn't make sense to me because without Kelvin Scale we should not talk about Charles law at the first place. I must missing something. Any help will be highly appreciated!

Thanks a bunch:)
 
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This series of videos explores the history of thermodynamics theory. Perhaps one of them may have the answer you seek. I put the playlist link in code tags to prevent the PF software from converting it to a link to a single video.

Paste this link into your browser.
[CODE title="Html"]
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLepnjl2hm9tHRMTdVyJ8t9HB6TZ63hFdU
[/CODE]
 
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anorlunda said:
This series of videos explores the history of thermodynamics theory. Perhaps one of them may have the answer you seek. I put the playlist link in code tags to prevent the PF software from converting it to a link to a single video.

Paste this link into your browser.
[CODE title="Html"]
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLepnjl2hm9tHRMTdVyJ8t9HB6TZ63hFdU
[/CODE]
Video topics look relevant. Start watching them. Will respond after watching.

Thanks anorlunda
 
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