Temperature scientists measure temperature using the Celsius scale and thermodynamic temperature using the Kelvin scale, which is the Celsius scale offset so that its null point is = , or absolute zero. Many engineering fields in the U.S., notably high-tech and US federal specifications (civil and military), also use the Kelvin and Celsius scales. Other engineering fields in the U.S. also rely upon the Rankine scale (a shifted Fahrenheit scale) when working in thermodynamic-related disciplines such as combustion. The basic unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI) is the kelvin. It has the symbol K. For everyday applications,
Absolute zero where "S" is the entropy. In such a circumstance, pure substances can (ideally) form perfect crystals as "T" → 0. Max Planck's strong form of the third law of thermodynamics states the entropy of a perfect crystal vanishes at absolute zero. The original Nernst "heat theorem" makes the weaker and less controversial claim that the entropy change for any isothermal process approaches zero as "T" → 0: The implication is that the entropy of a perfect crystal simply approaches a constant value. The Nernst postulate identifies the isotherm T = 0 as coincident with the adiabat S = 0, although