science

Leiden scale

Leiden scale is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Leiden scale rather than just read about it. In short: The Leiden scale (°L or ÐL) is a temperature scale that was used to calibrate low-temperature indirect measurements in the early 20th century, by providing conventional values (in kelvins, then termed "degrees Kelvin") of helium vapour pressure. The scale dates back at around 1894, when Heike Kamerlingh Onnes established his cryogenics laboratory in Leiden, Netherlands.

Key takeaways

Leiden scale belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Leiden scale to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Leiden scale from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Leiden scale (°L or ÐL) is a temperature scale that was used to calibrate low-temperature indirect measurements in the early 20th century, by providing conventional values (in kelvins, then termed "degrees Kelvin") of helium vapour pressure. The scale dates back at around 1894, when Heike Kamerlingh Onnes established his cryogenics laboratory in Leiden, Netherlands. It was used below −183 °C, the starting point of the International Temperature Scale in the 1930s (Awbery 1934). The boiling points of standard hydrogen (−253 °C), consisting of 75% orthohydrogen and 25% parahydrogen, and oxygen (−183 °C) were used as fixed points, corresponding to zero and 70 on the scale respectively.

See also Outline of metrology and measurement

References Berman, A.; Zemansky, M. W.; and Boorse, H. A.; Normal and Superconducting Heat Capacities of Lanthanum, Physical Review, Vol. 109, No. 1 (January 1958), pp. 70–76. Quote: "The 1955 Leiden scale13 was used to convert helium vapor pressures into temperatures [...] (13) H. van Dijk and M. Durieux, in Progress in Low Temperature Physics II, edited by C. J. Gorter (North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1957), p. 461. In the region of calibration the 1955 Leiden scale, TL55, differs from the Clement scale, T55E, by less than 0.004 deg." (emphasis added) Grebenkemper, C. J.; and Hagen, John P.; The Dielectric Constant of Liquid Helium, Physical Review, Vol. 80, No. 1 (October 1950), pp. 89–89. Quote: "The temperature scale used was the 1937 Leiden scale." (emphasis added) Awbery, J. H.; Heat, Rep. Prog. Phys. 1934, No. 1, pp. 161–197 doi:10.1088/0034-4885/1/1/308. Quote: "It should be mentioned that below −183 °C, the Leiden workers do not entirely agree with some of the other cryogenic laboratories, but use a scale of their own, generally known as the Leiden scale." (emphasis added) H. van Dijk, M. Durieux.; The Temperature Scale in the Liquid Helium Region, Progress in Low Temperature Physics. - 1957. - Vol. 2. — P. 431–464. Hubbard, Joanna; Are icebergs made of salt water or fresh water? Archived at the Wayback Machine (07-16-2011)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Leiden scale

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Leiden scale claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Leiden scale before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Leiden scale ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Leiden scale

In research: Leiden scale appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Leiden scale in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Leiden scale is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Obsolete units of measurement, Scales of temperature, Unit of measurement stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Leiden scale outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Leiden scale in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Leiden scale means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Leiden scale out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Leiden scale in simple terms?

Why does Leiden scale matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Leiden scale?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Leiden scale.