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This is great sci-fi fodder, imagine if you could land a tiny craft on that thing and then use the hydrogen as fuel without having to haul all that fuel into deep space (very unlikely to be practical but the idea is exciting).
Is there an element or compound in the universe that will remain a gas at 0K? Does everything become solid at that temp?
This is great sci-fi fodder, imagine if you could land a tiny craft on that thing and then use the hydrogen as fuel without having to haul all that fuel into deep space (very unlikely to be practical but the idea is exciting).
Then the problem becomes getting oxygen. As a hydrogen won't burn in a vacuum.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Intuitively I would think so since 0K is a motionless state. By definition everything would be solid because nothing would be capable of e.g. filling a given volume, or for that matter, doing any action at all. But this isn't my field of expertise.
Complete lack of motion would violate Heisenberg uncertainty principle ("no motion" == "I know both momentum and location with zero uncertainty" and that's not allowed)
Is there an element or compound in the universe that will remain a gas at 0K? Does everything become solid at that temp?
This is great sci-fi fodder, imagine if you could land a tiny craft on that thing and then use the hydrogen as fuel without having to haul all that fuel into deep space (very unlikely to be practical but the idea is exciting).
Then the problem becomes getting oxygen. As a hydrogen won't burn in a vacuum.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I went on a wiki-binge on this topic a few days ago and so I recognize this as a magsail[0]. It would be an attractive addition to an interstellar craft since it obviates the need to carry propellant for deceleration. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_sail
That's really cool. Definitely helpful in order to drop deceleration fuel requirements if we ever manage to put together a relativistic interstellar spacecraft.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Complete lack of motion would violate Heisenberg uncertainty principle ("no motion" == "I know both momentum and location with zero uncertainty" and that's not allowed)
No, you can have zero momentum. However it comes along with having a position wavefunction that fills the whole universe.
Is there an element or compound in the universe that will remain a gas at 0K? Does everything become solid at that temp?
To be pedantic, it's impossible to get to 0K due to quantum fluctuations. Even empty deep space is over 2K. In laboratory settings, we've gotten way below 1K. I don't think anything qualifies as a gas at that temperature. It'd be a solid or a BEC.