The kelvin, symbol K, is the SI base unit of temperature, named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow based engineer and physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907). The Kelvin scale is an absolute thermodynamic temperature scale, meaning it uses absolute zero as its null point.
The kelvin is the primary unit of temperature for engineering and the physical sciences, while in most countries Celsius remains the dominant scale outside of these fields and in the United States the Fahrenheit scale is still widespread.
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