ELI5: How can something exceed 2 Billion Kelvin?

| Category: Explain

I read somewhereand they were saying it came from a reactor. How can something get that hot and be measured without burning its surroundings?


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mmmmmmBacon12345: Something can be really really hot, but not have enough energy to burn something

When you use a grinder on metal and the little red sparks fly off, those are crazy hot but they’re so small that if they hit your pants they don’t have enough energy to burn them despite their high temperature

If you bring 1 microgram of stuff up to 2 billion kelvin, then it bumps into a kilogram of the same stuff that is at 500 K then you’re going to end up with everything being at just 502 K and nothing exciting happens because there isn’t enough energy available to burn the surroundings

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