This implies the existence of a lower bound on temperature, beyond which the gas would have negative pressure or volume--an unphysical result.

To resolve this, the concept of absolute temperature is introduced, with 0 kelvins defined as the point at which pressure or volume would vanish in an ideal gas. This temperature corresponds to -273.15 °C, and is referred to as absolute zero. The ideal gas law is therefore formulated in terms of absolute temperature to remain consistent with observed gas behavior and physical limits.

Absolute temperature scales

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