# Maximum temperature that can be achieved [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate:
Why is there no absolute maximum temperature?

Is there any upper limit of the temperature that can be achieved? Is the speed of light a kind of barrier?

## marked as duplicate by Qmechanic♦, dmckee♦Dec 9 '12 at 23:50

• Possible duplicate: physics.stackexchange.com/q/1775/2451 – Qmechanic Dec 9 '12 at 21:54
• Also, once you start talking about high temperatures, it's important look at different energy modes. What we measure is the translational energy, but there are all kinds of other energy modes available to store energy. – tpg2114 Dec 9 '12 at 21:59
• This is a good question that has never been answered! There is a maximum temperature worth physically considering, the Planck temperature. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_temperature About $10^{32}$ Celsius degrees. It's the temperature of the smallest possible black hole that still marginally behaves as a - short-lived - black hole. Smallest, and therefore hotter, black holes don't exist at all. If we try to concentrate too much too hot mass, we create black holes that is immediately "cooler" again, especially for large black holes, so the Planck temperature is really the limit. – Luboš Motl Dec 10 '12 at 8:16