TheArmitage
TheArmitage t1_jd5hp7t wrote
Reply to comment by Dr-Luemmler in Can a single atom be determined to be in any particular phase of matter? by Zalack
>what happens if we drop a second atom in the void?
In doing so, you've introduced energy into the system. That atom had to get there somehow, and that takes energy.
>Besides that, temperature itself isnt relative as we have a true zero.
Yes, it is. It's just self-referential. Thermal motion is the motion of atoms in a substance relative to each other. So if all atoms in a substance have zero motion relative to each other, it has a temperature of 0K.
TheArmitage t1_jd5mdnn wrote
Reply to comment by Acewasalwaysanoption in Can a single atom be determined to be in any particular phase of matter? by Zalack
It is inherent in the definition of temperature that the substance is compared to itself. You cannot have an external reference point for temperature, because then it's not temperature.