Kelvin

Kelvin‏‎

The kelvin is defined as the fraction 1⁄273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water (exactly 0.01 °C or 32.018 °F). In other words, it is defined such that the triple point of water is exactly 273.16 K.

The Kelvin scale is named after the Belfast-born, Glasgow University engineer and physicist William Thomson (1824–1907), who wrote of the need for an "absolute thermometric scale". Unlike the degree Fahrenheit and degree Celsius, the kelvin is not referred to or typeset as a degree. The kelvin is the primary unit of measurement in the physical sciences, but is often used in conjunction with the degree Celsius, which has the same magnitude. Subtracting 273.16 K from the temperature of the triple point of water (0.01 °C) makes absolute zero (0 K) equivalent to −273.15 °C (−459.67 °F).

The Kelvin is similar to the Saresii Nolor and is used as the basis of the Union Standard unit of measuring temperature. However the C-scale (degree Celcius) is still the most commonly used.