No need to read this if science means absolutely nothing to you. Nerdy discussions ahead. You have been warned.
Soooo...
Where to begin? Ah yes, disclaimer: This is not a Europe vs. America, Metric vs. Imperial or Celsius vs. Fahrenheit discussion. While all those topics are in themselves good stuff for discussion, they unilaterally lead to flaming (at least on the internet). Do that here and I might suspend you for a week just out of spite.
Always feels nice to be threatened at the start of a discussion, ja? Dein leapen!
Ok, so the deal is this: I know of three measures of temperature. No wait, that's not true, I know of four. But I don't count rheamyr (sp?), nobody uses that anymore.
Ok, I'll try again: I know of three measures of temperature. Celsius, fahrenheit, kelvin. Of these, I understand how two of them work - celsius and kelvin. Dr. Watson will tell you that this can only mean that I have no idea what this fahrenheit business is all about, and he'll be right. So I'd like some of you people who evidently DO know (at least the californians must know, you're complaining about temperature all the time) to tell me. Simple. To clarify a little, I'll show you how I'd prefer you to explain it to me by explaining to YOU the sublime and mystical arts of celsius and kelvin. Just in case you were wondering about celsius or kelvin, like I about fahrenheit. Observe:
No wait, hang on. *ahem* "I'd like to apologize, in advance, for any bad wording on my part. I've never been taught maths, physics or chemistry in english, so I have no idea what all these technical expressions are in english. I'll try to do my best at being as coherent as possible." There, now carry on.
Celsius:
One of the most abundant substances on earth (on the surface that is, below it's a different matter) is water. Not only that, but abundance of water is one of the conditions for life as we know it. So water is naturally suited as a point of reference. Even if you've never seen the sea (which is a damn shame. And yes, you'll go "oh, it's THAT big..." when you see it), chances are you still know what water is.
When you measure temperature in degrees, you need to define two things: A neutral point (that is, at what temperature you place zero degrees) and in what increments you measure the temperature. With celsius, we place zero degrees at the point where water freezes. The temperature at which water turns from liquid into solid form. Zero degrees.
Now we need to define the increments. So next, we take the boiling point of water, the temperature at which water changes from liquid into gaseous form (commonly known as vapour or steam). We say that this point is at 100 degrees, and so we have defined the celsius scale. Freezing point 0 degrees, boiling point 100 degrees. Normal human body temperature: 37 degrees.
Kelvin:
Kelvin is really just a derivative of the celsius scale, but commonly used by scientists. Kelvin uses the same increments as celsius: When temperature increases by one degree celsius, it increases by one degree kelvin as well. When temperature decreases by one degree celsius, it decreases by one degree kelvin as well. The difference is in where we place the neutral point: Zero degrees kelvin lies at the absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature. Or -273 celsius (approximately). Equally easy is the conversion from celsius to kelvin and back:
Celsius + 273 = Kelvin
Kelvin - 273 = Celsius
Freezing point 273 degrees, boiling point 373 degrees. Normal human body temperature: 310 degrees.
So, how does fahrenheit work? And what are the freezing point, boiling point and normal human body temperature in kelvin? All I know is that paper burns at 451 degrees fahrenheit. I guess Bradbury's had a hand in that. Anyone care to enlighten me?
Topic: Fahrenheit (Read 7673 times)
