Boltzmann constant

For the constant pertaining to energy of black body radiation see Stefan–Boltzmann constant

Values of k	Units
Template:GapsTemplate:E	J K−1
Template:GapsTemplate:E	eV K−1
Template:GapsTemplate:E	erg K−1

The Boltzmann constant (k or k_B) is a physical constant. It relates the average kinetic energy of a particle in a gas with the temperature of the gas. It is the gas constant R divided by the Avogadro constant N_A:

$k={\frac {R}{N_{\rm {A}}}}\,$

The Boltzmann constant has SI units of J⋅K⁻¹, the same as entropy. It is named after the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann. "Although Boltzmann published his famous definition of entropy in 1877, the constant of proportionality in Boltzmann’s definition, was not identified as Boltzmann’s constant until 1900 when Planck published his analysis of blackbody radiation (1900a, 1900b), where he identified the constant as and named it after Boltzmann."

References

Template:Physics-stub