XPost: sci.physics, sci.astro   
   From: pausch@saaf.se   
      
   In article <99b2377f.0312091245.276ba801@posting.google.com>,   
   Binary Object  wrote:   
      
   > Why is absolute zero approximately -460 F, yet the maximum   
   > possible amount of heat is seemingly infinite?  There is   
   > certainly an asymmetry.  Why is there no upper bound for   
   > heat?   
      
   Because there is a lower bound for speed (zero) but no upper bound   
   for speed.  And the temperature is essentially the speed at which   
   each atom/molecule moves around inside the matter.  Or, more   
   properly, the kinetic energy each atom/molecule has -- that's why, at   
   the same temperature, e.g. the molecules of hydrogen gas moves much   
   faster than the molecules of oxygen or nitrogen gas.  But the   
   principle is the same: there is no upper bound, only a lower bound   
   (zero), for kinetic energy.   
      
   On the absolute temperature scale (degrees Kelvin), the lowest   
   possible temperature is zero degrees.   
      
      
   > Why is there a lower bound for cold?   
      
   There isn't -- but there is an upper bound for cold, since it   
   cannot get colder than -460 F (= 0 K), can it?   
      
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