Thermodynamic temperature and exchange energy in collisions. "Figure 1" below shows translational motion in gases; "" below shows translational motion in solids. Thermodynamic temperature's null point, absolute zero, is the temperature at which the particle constituents of matter are as close as possible to complete rest; that is, they have minimal motion, retaining only quantum mechanical motion. Zero kinetic energy remains in a substance at absolute zero (see "Thermal energy at absolute zero", below). Throughout the scientific world where measurements are made in SI units, thermodynamic temperature is measured in kelvins (symbol: K). Many engineering fields in the U.S. however, measure thermodynamic
Réaumur scale Réaumur scale The Réaumur scale (; °Ré, °Re, °r), also known as the "octogesimal division", is a temperature scale for which the freezing and boiling points of water are defined as 0 and 80 degrees respectively. The scale is named for René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, who first proposed a similar scale in 1730. Réaumur’s thermometer contained diluted alcohol (ethanol) and was constructed on the principle of using 0° for the freezing temperature of water, and graduating the tube into degrees, each of which was one-thousandth of the volume contained by the bulb and tube up to the zero mark.