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The Kelvin equation describes the change in vapour pressure due to a curved liquid–vapor interface, such as the surface of a droplet. The vapor pressure at a convex curved surface is higher than that at a flat surface. The Kelvin equation is dependent upon thermodynamic principles and does not allude to special properties of materials.
Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in Lord Kelvin's honour. While the existence of a coldest possible temperature, absolute zero , was known before his work, Kelvin determined its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit . [ 13 ]
The first tide predicting machine (TPM) was built in 1872 by the Légé Engineering Company. [11] A model of it was exhibited at the British Association meeting in 1873 [12] (for computing 8 tidal components), followed in 1875-76 by a machine on a slightly larger scale (for computing 10 tidal components), was designed by Sir William Thomson (who later became Lord Kelvin). [13]
This arrangement makes a physical analog of just one term in the tide equation. Old Brass Brains computes 37 such terms. The slotted yoke cranks at the top and bottom (with the triangular pieces) move vertically in a sinusoidal pattern. The locations of their pins determine their amplitudes and phases, representing factors in the tide equation.
Cable theory in computational neuroscience has roots leading back to the 1850s, when Professor William Thomson (later known as Lord Kelvin) began developing mathematical models of signal decay in submarine (underwater) telegraphic cables. The models resembled the partial differential equations used by Fourier to describe heat conduction in a wire.
Between 1870 and 1890 the vortex atom theory, which hypothesised that an atom was a vortex in the aether, was popular among British physicists and mathematicians. William Thomson, who became better known as Lord Kelvin, first conjectured that atoms might be vortices in the aether that pervades space.
The heat death paradox, also known as thermodynamic paradox, Clausius' paradox, and Kelvin's paradox, [1] is a reductio ad absurdum argument that uses thermodynamics to show the impossibility of an infinitely old universe. It was formulated in February 1862 by Lord Kelvin and expanded upon by Hermann von Helmholtz and William John Macquorn ...
A similar calculator formed the basis of the Torpedo Data Computer, which solved the more demanding problem of the very long engagement times of torpedo fire. A well-known example is the Norden bombsight which used a slight variation on the basic design, replacing the ball with another disk. In this system the integrator was used to calculate ...