eli5: Why is it temperatures can go up to the trillions but only down to -273?
In: Physics
Celsius was invented for describing standard conditions on earth for humans. Because it’s an *ad hoc* system based on the freezing and boiling points of water (0 and 100 degrees C) it will give odd sounding results when used for scientific purposes – same way Kelvin (which is scientific temperature where 0 really means 0) looks weird next to F and C readouts of the same temperature.
-273C is more just a way of understanding just how cold absolute zero is, same way describing the distance to mars in miles would show just how far it is, but light minutes and AU are better for understanding it.
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