Is it true that the space is said to be a vacuum?
The answer is both yes and no.
Strictly speaking, space is not a vacuum because there are a few molecules floating around.
However, it can also be a vacuum in industrial terms since it is defined as a pressure of 1 atm or less.
Click here for the explanation of vacuum.
We explain clearly the reason why space is not a vacuum.
First, space has a temperature.
On the earth where we live, we are dealing with temperature on a daily basis.
That’s because of the atmosphere that surrounds the Earth.
On the other hand, space has no atmosphere and is said to be at absolute zero.
Is it true?
The temperature in space is about -270°C.
The official record for the lowest temperature in Japan is -41.0°C in Asahikawa.
There are records of -50°C in Antarctica.
It’s hard to imagine about -270°C as we live on the earth.
However, there is still a slight temperature in space.
Thermal energy is generated by the motion of atoms and molecules but such motion ceases at about -273°C.
It is called absolute zero because there is no temperature lower than this.
(The absolute temperature is familiar to those who have studied chemistry and physics.)
As we mentioned, the temperature in space is about -270°C and it is higher than the absolute zero, -273°C.
This means that atoms and molecules exist in the space just enough to create the thermal energy.
Therefore the space is not “the absolute vacuum” that is in state that it does not have molecules at all.
Actually, it is believed that the space had higher temperature and was more compact when it was first created, but as it continued to expand, it had cooled to -270°C.
If there is no absolute vacuum in space, it is extremely difficult to achieve an absolute vacuum on the earth.
However, industrial vacuum, which is less than 1 atmospheric pressure, is useful in our daily lives.
Our sputtering equipment can also use a vacuum to deposit films on a variety of materials.
We hope you can feel a little bit of space in sputtering equipment.
Click here to see our space chamber that can reproduce the vacuum of space.
