Published: April 14, 2002

The connections between work, energy, heat and temperature will be explained during the Saturday, April 27, CU Wizards show "Heat, Temperature and Absolute Zero."

Paul Beale, a physics professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will present the show at 9:30 a.m. in Duane Physics, room G1B30.

The free hour-long show is intended primarily for students in grades five through nine. CU Wizards is an annual series presented on the last Saturday morning of each month during the school year and covers topics in astronomy, chemistry and physics.

During the show Beale will use props including balloons and superconductors to demonstrate how temperatures are measured and how the properties of real materials change dramatically as their temperatures are varied from thousands of degrees above zero to hundreds of degrees below zero. He also will use an infrared camera and other tools to show that all objects, including the human body, emit radiation that depends on their temperature.

The audience will learn what heat is, how temperature is related to the motion of molecules in a material, why there is an absolute zero temperature and what distinguishes solids, liquids and gases from each other. Beale said he also will explain why interesting things happen when matter is cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero.

Free parking for the April 27 show is available in lot 169 northeast of Folsom Stadium off Folsom Street, lot 396 off Stadium Drive, lot 378 southeast of Folsom Stadium, lot 436 east of the Engineering Center and lot 308 south of Regent Drive and west of Kittredge Loop Road. Parking also is available in the Euclid Avenue Autopark for a nominal fee.

For more information about the CU Wizards series call (303) 492-6952 or visit the Web site at .