Caloric theory

Creator
Creator
Seonglae ChoSeonglae Cho
Created
Created
2025 Dec 13 18:5
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Edited
Edited
2025 Dec 13 18:14
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Heat is a substance called caloric that flows from warm objects to cold objects, which is incorrect in modern physics. It is actually very hard to construct an experiment that disproves the caloric hypothesis. However, you can do really useful work believing in caloric theory. For example, the original
Combustion Engine
s were developed by people who believed in caloric theory.
 
 
 
 
 
Mechanistic Interpretability explained | Chris Olah and Lex Fridman
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Mechanistic Interpretability explained | Chris Olah and Lex Fridman
Caloric theory
The caloric theory is a superseded scientific theory that heat consists of a self-repellent fluid called "caloric" that flows from hotter bodies to colder bodies. Caloric was also thought of as a weightless gas that could pass in and out of pores in solids and liquids. The caloric theory was superseded by the mid-19th century in favor of the mechanical theory of heat, but nevertheless persisted in some scientific literature—particularly in more popular treatments—until the end of the 19th century.[1]
 
 

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