This law establishes the concept of thermal equilibrium. If two systems are each in thermal equilibrium with a third, independent system, they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. This transitive property allows for the formal definition of temperature as a state function and provides a rational basis for constructing thermometers and universal temperature scales.
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
- Ralph H. Fowler

The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics is fundamental, yet it was articulated long after the first and second laws were widely accepted, hence its unusual numbering. Before its formal statement, temperature was an intuitive concept, but the law provided a rigorous mathematical and physical foundation. It defines temperature as an intensive property that is equal when two systems are in thermal equilibrium. This means that if system A is in equilibrium with system C, and system B is also in equilibrium with system C, then A and B are in equilibrium with each other. System C can be thought of as a thermometer.
This law is crucial because it validates the use of a thermometer as a reliable tool for measuring the temperature of any other system. Without it, there would be no guarantee that two objects showing the same reading on a thermometer are actually at the same temperature. The novelty of the Zeroth Law was not in discovering a new physical phenomenon, but in recognizing and formalizing a principle that was already implicitly used. It elevated temperature from a mere comparative measure to a precisely defined state variable, paving the way for the mathematical formulations of the other laws of thermodynamics.
- 校准, 环境工程, 热处理, 测量系统分析(MSA), 质量控制, 统计过程控制 (SPC), 热力学
类型
中断
使用方法
前体
- invention of the thermoscope by Galileo Galilei
- development of standardized temperature scales by Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin
- early concepts of heat and calorimetry
- theories on the nature of heat, including the caloric theory
应用
- thermometers (mercury, alcohol, digital)
- thermostats for hvac systems
- calibration of scientific and industrial temperature sensors
- meteorology for consistent weather measurements
- 过程控制 in chemical engineering
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历史背景
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
(如果日期不详或不相关,例如 "流体力学",则对其显著出现的时间作了四舍五入的估计)。
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