What is the Lowest Possible Temperature?
The lowest possible temperature, or absolute zero as it is called, is −273.15 degrees Celsius, or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. It is also called 0 degrees Kelvin, a temperature scale with increments equivalent to degrees of Celsius, but uses absolute zero rather than water’s freezing point as its starting point. The lowest possible temperature is defined as the point at which all atomic motion ceases. The above definition may be incomplete, however, as an atom is itself an entity with complex internal structure. To achieve the lowest possible temperature, or true absolute zero, not only must atomic motion stop, but all of the atom’s internal components would need to stop as well. Electrons would need to stop orbiting their respective atomic nuclei, the neutrons and protons in the nuclei would need to stop pulling each other around with their internal forces, the quarks, and any underlying substructure must cease all activity. Due to quantum mechanical effects, this is impossible. Thus,
