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| Re: he is warm as ice |
Captain_Kirk - 4/2/2005 07:59 |
Temperature is a physical quantity which gives us an idea of how hot or cold an object is. The temperature of an object depends on how fast the atoms and molecules which make up the object can shake, or oscillate. As an object is cooled, the oscillations of its atoms and molecules slow down. For example, as water cools, the slowing oscillations of the molecules allow the water to freeze into ice. In all materials, a point is eventually reached at which all oscillations are the slowest they can possibly be. The temperature which corresponds to this point is called absolute zero. Note that the oscillations never come to a complete stop, even at absolute zero.
So what? Well it is axiomatic that ice is warmer than absolute zero. Indeed I do not believe that "warm as ice" is an oxymoron in the strictest sense of the definition. That being said we humans don't think ice is warm, do we? If you said that something had the temperature of ice, I suppose that would remove the slight oxymoronic (is there such a word?) inference in warm ice.
Still, if I were placed in a bath of ice I wouldn't be warm! :-)
Cheers.
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