An upper bound in temperature?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion explores whether a gas with particles moving close to the speed of light has a finite temperature or an upper bound. It posits that if particles could theoretically reach light speed, their temperature might be infinite due to their kinetic energy. However, it is clarified that temperature is determined by the average energy of the molecules, not their speed, suggesting no upper limit exists. The conversation also touches on the relationship between temperature and particle collisions with surfaces. Ultimately, the nature of the gas does not impose a finite upper bound on temperature.
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I'm wondering if a gas in which all its molecules are moving very close to the speed of light has a finite temperature.
More precisely, if we take the limit of the speed of the particles to be exactly the speed of light (I know it's impossible to reach, but as I'm calculating an upper bound I think I can do that), is the temperature of the gas infinite, as the kinetic energy of the molecules and the masses of the molecules, or is it finite as their speed?
If it is finite then there exist an upper bound temperature for any body. In this case, does the upper bound depends on the nature of the gas? (for example an electrons gas, a protons one).
Thanks.
 
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Roughly speaking, the temperature depends on the average energy of the molecules, not the average speed, so there would be no upper limit.
 
JoAuSc said:
Roughly speaking, the temperature depends on the average energy of the molecules, not the average speed, so there would be no upper limit.

Ok thanks. I got the confusion since I've heard in my class that we could define the temperature of a gas by the number of collisions of the gas' particles against a wall per unit of area divided by one second.
 
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