Kelvin - Proposed Redefinition

Proposed Redefinition

In 2005 the CIPM embarked on a program to redefine, amongst others, the kelvin using a more rigorous basis than was in use. The current (2010) definition is unsatisfactory for temperatures below 20 K and above 1300 K. It is anticipated that the program will be completed in time for its adoption by the CGPM at its 2011 meeting. The committee proposes defining the kelvin as the temperature scale for which Boltzmann's constant is 1.3806505×10−23 J/K exactly.

From a scientific point of view, this will link temperature to the rest of SI and result in a stable definition that is independent of any particular substance. From a practical point of view, the redefinition will pass unnoticed; water will still freeze at 0 °C (32 °F, 273.15 K).

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