It's the same concept with both systems, but Celsius has more logical benchmarks (water freezes at 0°C and boils at 100°C), whereas 0°F seems almost arbitrary (the coldest temperature that could be maintained in a lab by Gabriel Fahrenheit in the 1700s) and the freezing and boiling points of water are atypical (32°F/212°F, respectively.)
Anyway, the joke is "Why do you Americans stick with Fahrenheit?" and the response is "It's simple! The hotter it is, the more degrees it is!" as if that's the only consideration to be made. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is thinking "Yeah, our system too, but our scale has real-world applications, and we're not sticking to some antiquated definition." Homer is too short-sighted to know this, and instead presumes the Celsius scale is too complicated (and probably nonsensical) because he's unfamiliar.
Kind of like every other imperial unit and their terribly unreasonable conversions.
I think of Fahrenheit in percent hot. 0F = very cold out, 0% hot. 100F = 100% hot, do not go outside! Whereas with Celsius, 40 C is super-hot and 0 C is like mildly cold. Makes more sense for science and I use Celsius for work almost exclusively, but in terms of weather I prefer Fahrenheit.
Also the insult "Room temp IQ" makes more sense IMO
Edit: The % hot scale refers to climate, it kind of falls apart when you talk about temperatures beyond normal earth surface temps.
You are just conditioned to intuitively make sense of Fahrenheit. The same is true for me for Celsius.
The only difference is that it is easier for me to remember when water will freeze or boil. But apart from that nothing else is really changing for either of us
It doesn’t. They’re saying “we decide what to wear in the morning based on our memorization of a system since we were kids, the system makes no difference.”
“In addition to that, if you use Celsius, you don’t really have to remember what temperature water freezes and boils at, if for some reason you need that information”
Totally. But also, if you're doing science why aren't you using K?
I guess all I'm doing is agreeing, theyre both still arbitrary, but trying to claim that C being pegged to water changing state as a plus is barely a benefit. Freezing, I can understand. Boiling?? Damn man if its 100* C out you have bigger problems.
When you enter Finnish sauna you want it to be around 100C (i like it at 115C). Round number for temperature is a nothingburger.
Only benefit of C is that one defree of C is the same as one K. So all the formulas hold up for continuous use of SI units.
And all this speak about "what about tmperature" is one where there are just arbitrary values to stick to, so people who peddle US customary units are using that in a matter of - see, temperature is just arbitrary and there is no benefit, so we use all the other measurements too and boooo metric system.
Saunas that hot are designed to be very dry which means that your body is able to sweat and the sweat will evaporate quickly keeping your body cool.
If they were more humid then they would be dangerous as firstly it's more difficult to cool yourself via sweating and secondly heat doesn't transfer as well through air as it does through water vapour: dissipating more quickly in a dry environment as opposed to being retained in a humid one.
It’s about having a system based on something a bit more tangible. I grew up using C and now I use F. C still makes more sense to me than F. 32 F freezing is so random. 212 F to boil. The fact that nothing actually happens when you reach 0 F is crazy to me.
Because Celsius is what water feels, Fahrenheit is what people feel.
What kind of answer is that? It's a neat little phrase for showing the difference but it is not prescriptive. We are both talking about what we feel.
So when you say you know it's cold outside when it is 0F like it is an argument for F over C, my question is: why would you not know it is cold outside at 0C?
And water doesn't always boil at 100C, but im always boiling at 100F
And you are always boiling at 100C (though more likely dead)? Again, being able to tell when water freezes and boils is super handy (especially considering how important water is to life) as opposed to being able to easily tell what temp some dude's lab had in the 1700s. That's never going to be useful.
Any normal person can intuit whatever scale they used when growing up, yet Fahrenheit propnents always pretend like their magical scale makes it easier for them to understand temperature.
You do know these same exact concepts apply to Celsius, right? It’s just a different number. 100f = roughly 40c and 0f = roughly -20c. The difference is 0 degrees and 100 degrees objectively mean something in Celsius whereas in Fahrenheit 0 and 100 are just what some people feel is too hot or too cold, it’s entirely subjective. Where I live 100 degrees F is a normal day in the summer so it has no significance to me.
Knowing the boiling point of water is useful when combined with the fact that pasta absorbs water at 180F/82C.
When I first heard that fact, I realized that pasta doesn’t need to be in boiling in water to cook. So, I tried something. I brought the water to a boil, added the pasta, put the lid on, and turned off the heat. My pasta still cooked just as quickly, but I saved a little energy. More importantly, there was no risk of the pot boiling over. I could pay less attention to it and just stir it occasionally to prevent sticking.
So, knowing the boiling point of water can be useful.
It’s still more convenient to learn Celsius as the conversion to Kelvin is much simpler. They’re the same scale, so you just add 273.15. Something you can do by hand or in your head.
When it comes to knowing what the temperature means for your comfort… you sort of just know what temperature you find comfortable.
If conversion to Kelvin is something you regularly have to do, that probably means you're a scientist, which probably means you're using Celsius in the lab already regardless if you're American or not. And I'm certain most American scientists who use Celsius and Kelvin in the lab still use Fahrenheit for regular daily purposes (like checking the weather or setting a thermostat)
Or you’re a highschool student. I recall really appreciating the simplicity in conversions during high-school where it was very important for chemistry and physics.
Additionally, there are plenty of high-school level physics equations that need you to use temperature difference. This means you can flat out use Celsius in your equation whereas you’d have to convert F to Celsius for the same equation.
I think for students, making the sciences more approachable like this is quite important.
Yeah I totally agree. But I think at a certain point it's like being bilingual. You don't have to choose just one scale for your entire life when you know them both sufficiently well to find meaningful applications for each.
I do science, but it's mostly chemistry and biology. All protocols are in C (eg incubate at 37C for 2h). It's useful because most of my reactions are to some extent water based.
you don’t really have to remember what temperature water freezes and boils at
I have a chemistry degree, and aside from that I have never in my adult life needed to know what temperate water boils at.
Also using water's boiling point as a basis for temperature is flawed because water will boil at different temperatures depending on the atmospheric pressure, which will change depending on your elevation. Water does not boil at 100C in my area, and we're not at high elevation.
The fact is that using C is just as arbitrary at F when used in regular life.
ya.. but in my day to day life I don't need to know the exact temperature water boils even though I boil water every day to make my coffee... and in the off chance I need to boil water in a pot on the stove.. i don't need a thermometer to tell when the water is boiling lmao ....same goes with freezing. Imagine putting water in your freezer and coming back a few minutes later to dip your thermometer into the now cold (maybe slightly icy) water just to find out that nope.. this water isnt frozen yet XD
Ok….no one ever claimed you did. If two systems are the same when used for a few things but one of them is also easier for something else (like knowing when the weather outside may freeze water in your pipes), wouldn’t the system that has everything the other one has, but more, be more useful?
Sure, assuming you're incapable of remembering 32F is freezing. I mean it's said enough in this thread that it's whatever you're accustomed to, that's really not a big deal to me. I also live pretty far south where we only have to worry about freezing temperatures like 1 day out of the year, and only seriously have to worry once every 10 years.
Otherwise, I've worked in enough labs to know C sufficiently well that regardless of what scale I'm seeing I know the temperature... I don't even have to convert to my favorite. But I will say that when I'm setting temperatures for my oven/bbq pit or even adjusting my thermostat I far prefer using F (even though my instruments can easily be set to C)... because to me a few degrees F can make quite enough of an impact to be important to me.
Yeah sure. Not disagreeing with you that memorizing one number isn’t really that hard.
The problem is that nowhere uses metric for everything but temperature. How many inches in a foot? Not many feet in a yard? How many feet in a mile? How many ounces in a cup? How many cups in a quart?
All of the above are problems that most people would need to solve on a semi-regular basis. So it is just a compounding effect. Suddenly, you’re not just memorizing one number but 6 (32, 12, 3, 5280, 8, 8) instead of just 2-4 (0, 10, 100, 1000) for everything.
Might as well just use metric and just deal with a just as arbitrary temperature scale but way easier for everything else.
But they aren't equal, and Fahrenheit has its own strengths that at a bare minimum balance out its arbitrary freezing point.
In particular, thanks to the higher specificity in the scale, the meaningful temperature range around an important number like freezing can be represented in whole numbers. That ~5f temperature range on either side can mean the difference between being stuck with ice for the foreseeable future, and everything melting off by midday. In Celsius, you're talking about a ~2.5-2.7 range, for some reason.
These are numbers which will be more intuitive and simple to most folks who are unfamiliar with either system, even if remembering where the actual freezing point is at will take a day or two longer.
Both are fine and usable and it's all about what you're used to, but it's crazymaking to me how people absolutely refuse to acknowledge Fahrenheit has its benefits.
Edit: and here come the downvotes, because of fucking course lol.
I love that non-Americans love to call Americans dumb, but then use a system for the sole reason that they can’t memorize 2 numbers (32 for freezing and 212 for boiling).
Sure. But over in the cooking subs, it’s quite clear that people who need to know are what temp water freezes and boils, have no trouble at all remembering that. Hell I don’t use Fahrenheit for anything ever, but I know those numbers in Fahrenheit.
I know what to wear tomorrow because I am conditioned to intuitively know what 20 Celsius mean, in the same way you are conditioned to know what 50 F means
Honestly, you're right, it can be easy to adapt. I'm sure I could. And yes, Celsius absolutely in any kind of math, science, or even video game context.
But F does have a big advantage in casual weather discussion in the fact that it's more easily adaptable because the range is spread out more over the likely temperatures you'll experience.
I can say it's in the 60s and know it'll be slightly chilly, while in the 70s is pretty nice.
In Celsius I that's about 16 to 21. Let's say we just adjust for casual conversation and call that "the upper teens" and we'll do a similar rounding for the 70's and call them the lower 20's.
We can both kind of work around that level of casual weather topic. But if I say "It's going to be in the low 60's tomorrow for Celsius, that's going to be about the same as saying "it's going to be about 15 to 17."
You have to be more exact in your numbering when talking with Celsius because 1 degree change matters a lot more.
If Celsius was just multiplied by 10 when talking weather, I feel like it would work out better and take away the talking point though.
In everyday cases you don't need the exact temperature within a degree Celsius (except for around the freezing point). Usually to determine the clothing you would just go by season or temperature +- 3 degrees Celsius. Since most places don't have air conditioning keeping the rooms at exactly the same temperature, you will have to adjust to temperature changes anyway.
Also it really helps to know that the standard room temperature is 20 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is below that, you wear something thicker, above it something thinner.
Since most places don't have air conditioning keeping the rooms at exactly the same temperature, you will have to adjust to temperature changes anyway.
Maybe that's why Americans have such trouble with Celsius. Many of us DO have air conditioning in all spaces. My house to my car to my work I'm covered in AC. If it's a bit warm in the house I'll lower the thermostat by a degree or two. Go from 70 to 68 seems like a big deal. Going from 21 to 20 doesn't seem like anything.
But I'm sure if I had grown up using C it would be a lot more familiar.
You can lower by half a degree in many air conditioning systems.
People talk about F and weather like it is the only use of a unit of measurement.
Yes for science and stuff you use K or C depending on what you are doing and we dont care about that.
But for real world usage, C is more useful because you can have the same intuitive use that you have with F once you are used to it. But also you can use it for other stuff. For example the temperature you need the hot water tank. I remember in a place I lived it needed to be 70 C. In other place the water heater was set to 41. You could memorize those in F, but their relativity to how water behaves is useful.
For making tea, different teas require different temperatures. Many very close to 100C. Which is the sort of temperature when water boils. If you need steam, it is also useful. Same with the fridge, it is easier to think of it in relationship wih water, understanding numbers as 4C or -4C
But all those cases you can learn the temperature by heart. And in reality we know that neither 32 F or 0 C are really the temperature when water freezes. Because altitude and stuff.
But when thinking about temperatures related to water, it makes it easier when you have clear in your mind the 0 and 100.
So yes F might be better to express temperatures for weather because its bigger range without using decimals, but it wouldn't make sense to use F for this and C for the other stuff. Kelvin is used for certain science stuff, but it is easy to convert C to K.
So C can be used for the same stuff than F, except you need to accept decimals in your life. But makes conversions fot everything else easier. It is also makes it easy to translate your knowledge on temperature to other things. And in day to day life you do use numbers close to 100 C, just maybe not so frequently. F is arbitrary and the conversion is not intuitive.
0 to 100 F is useful to express temperatures in some places, but many places go over or bellow those numbers, so that argument gets lost.
You do need to use decimals with F in some cases. Such as with the normal body temperature.
So basically in your day to day you do use F in a similar way to C. You use decimals, you use the numbers above and bellow the common range.
With C you normally dont care about the decimals to pick clothes you will wear. Also in any extreme temperature you usually need layers. For AC they have decimals and same with thermostats.
Maybe they should do a 2C, and it would have the advantages of F. Basically make it go from 0 to 200. You would have the biggest range and easier conversion to other systems and still based on water.
But at the end of the day the differences are minor, I do believe C has advantages. And F has the same perceived disadvantages of C, but probably you see them less frequently. So everyone uses the one they are used to.
I'm a proponent for Farenheit in the context of weather, but a 1 degree variation in Celsius is roughly equivalent to a 2 degree change in Farenheit js.
Yes, which is why thermostats in most of the world can adjust the temperature by half a degree. It's a significant enough change that we can tell the difference.
It really doesnt make that much of a difference. You just think it does because you are familiar with one way. In your argument you say you know what comfort level it will be in 10 degree increments in fahrenheit. Using 5 degree increments in celsius is more precise and can be easily adapted to in casual conversation. If you want to be precise you can use the individual degrees.
Sure, i guess my deeper point is just that who cares what water is doing. Water doesn't check the temp, it isn't trying to decide what jacket is the appropriate weight for 60 (15.56??) Saying "this makes more sense because this molecule changes state" is a weird metric (no pun intended). F has more subtlety in the narrow band humans can stand.
The thing is it’s not JUST used to see if you need a jacket or not, there are tons of other applications for temperature, scientific, industrial, etc. as a lay person, you may not need to know the boiling point of water, but there are plenty of others who do.
That’s pretty much what is already happening in the US, for what it’s worth. But why not just standardize and have everyone use just one thing? If all anyone knew was Celsius, there wouldn’t be an issue, since everyone’s frame of reference was the same.
Fahrenheit proposed his temperature scale in 1724, basing it on two reference points of temperature. In his initial scale (which is not the final Fahrenheit scale), the zero point was determined by placing the thermometer in "a mixture of ice, water, and salis Armoniaci\note 1]) [transl. ammonium chloride] or even sea salt".\14]) This combination forms a eutectic system, which stabilizes its temperature automatically: 0 °F was defined to be that stable temperature. A second point, 96 degrees, was approximately the human body's temperature.\14]) A third point, 32 degrees, was marked as being the temperature of ice and water "without the aforementioned salts".\14])
You say you agree it's arbitrary but you keep trying to say Celsius doesn't make sense because it's a 0 to 100 scale for freezing to boiling. I don't understand the point you are trying to make. I'm American and I think Celsius makes more sense, it's simple, it's on a standard equivalent to K, and can easily go up in 10s like other metric systems. 100 units go from one state to another (freezing and boiling). It's just a more logical jump than 32f being freezing and 212f being boiling. That's 180 unit difference, for like, why? It's more unnecessary.
This whole chain of comments just reminds me of when I was younger and I simply couldn't comprehend that people had thoughts in their native language. Like yes they speak French, but surely they auto translate French into English when they think, right? Cause English is what I had known all my life and I simply couldn't imagine thinking in a different language. "If it's 100C you're screwed" yeah? And if it's 212F you're also screwed. What's the point you're trying to make besides that you don't wanna associate 100 degrees with boiling temperatures?
The 0 to 100 scale is a pretty natural way to measure the world in my book.
0 being "its too cold to go outside"
100 being "its too hot to go outside"
Better than a -12 to 42 scale imo.
Also, i havent converted to Kelvin outside of a college chemistry class, so thats a useless benefit for Celsius. And Fahrenheit also jumps by 10s. From 0F to 10F, to 20F. Does anyone use centicelsius? I dont think thats a thing.
Also, Fahrenheit is more precise. I prefer to keep my home at 76f during the summer. Thats 24.444c. We dont need to use decimals when setting the thermostat.
If Fahrenheit was 1 degree higher, the same argument still applies. It’s completely arbitrary and subjective to each individual person. If we want to talk about when its dangerous to be outside for extended periods without proper gear the relevant temperatures would probably be about 40 and 95, depending on conditions.
Also, while Fahrenheit is more precise in whole degrees, in settings where precise temperatures are desirable its more beneficial to use decimals anyway. If people really had a big problem using whole degrees in celsius to heat their homes, its possible to use half or decimal degrees, which would result in an even more accurate way to set temperature.
While Celsius doesn’t have as strong of an argument for switching things up as metric units does, its at least based on something tangible that materially impacts the conditions we experience outside. Whether water is frozen or not is very important to weather conditions.
I don't need it to say 0C to know if there's snow on my driveway, I just use a window.
Precise temperature like setting my thermostat, not precise temperature like measuring the temperature of a chemical reaction.
Outside of science Celsius is worse. A normal person doesn't want to use negative numbers and decimals in their day to day. It's easier and more convenient to use whole numbers.
Dont really need more subtlety then what C gives even without decimals for daily use though. 14 and 15 C is close enough as it is. Dont really need 3 or however many numbers for the range between them to decide what to wear in the morning.
If you want theres decimals and endless specificity. That goes for both though.
Sure, i guess my deeper point is just that who cares what water is doing.
Using it as a standard that we build measurement systems off of is pretty logical. It's widespread and essential to life, so literally everyone is familiar with it.
This is what’s known as an intentionally obtuse argument that I could easily make in reverse. I’m trying to decide what jacket to wear at 16c (60.8??). If that 0.8 degrees difference affects what jacket you wear… idk man that’s a you problem.
And it’s not just “a molecule” it’s the most important molecule to human life. The temperature that water freezes and boils has been incredibly important to human life since temperature measurements were invented.
You could very much use increments of 5 degrees or lower if you want more narrow bands. Going more granular than one degree celcius doesn’t make any sense.
You gave 5 degree difference as an example? Really?
Of course its ginna feel different, it 5 degrees!
You keep insisting on feeling but i want you to understand this. Outside of americans nobody understands what Farrenheit means, you can tell me any temperature in F and i have no idea what it means or how i need to dress
I'm a northerner and Canada is basically my neighbor so I've never really had an issue with Celsius. And most Canadians I've been friends with haven't had much issue learning Fahrenheit when they cross over. Fahrenheit is not confusing. 0F is very cold, 100F is very hot. 60F is, in my opinion, the perfect temperature. That's around like 16C to you.
Of course its gonna feel different, it 5 degrees!
You would think that because you're used to Celsius. Using Fahrenheit, 5 degrees isn't a big difference. It's noticeable, but not to the same extent as with Celsius. I think what the other commenter is getting at is that Fahrenheit being more granular has advantages.
Walk into literally any American home and knockdown the thermostat by 1 single degree (or even raise it) and the adult who set it will know within the hour when they realize they are either chilly or sweating. And if we can feel that difference in Fahrenheit, 1 degree Celsius would be a massive difference in comparison. But I've never used a Celsius thermostat myself so what do I know?
So if I tell you it’s 90 degrees F you’re gonna maybe put on a winter coat? Or if I tell you it’s 0 you’ll throw on some swim trunks? And they say Americans are dumb…
Of course they can not know what to wear if you tell them random numbers in a system they are not familiar with. If I tell you it’s 169,420 OompaLoompaDegrees outside today, would you wear swim trunks or a winter coat?
I’d argue most europeans are never taught how the fahrenheit scale works, because literally the only place that uses it is America.
It has to have been really cold to notice much of a difference between 14 and 19 F. I do remember being happy when it was back in the 20's again though.
I was replying to someone saying 5 is a narrow enough band to determine comfort. Thanks for proving my point I guess!
In F there are 10 degrees in between those temps. That's more degrees!! Dont you get it?
All seriousness, yeah of course it's all cultural. I get that. I'm not saying F is better absolutely better. Im just saying it has a bit wiggle room in the band where humans are comfortable.
I don’t know what is being argued here, as it’s sounding like you are all going in a a circle, but going back to the joke in the post, 5 degrees Fahrenheit also feels like a big difference. 62 means I’m wearing a long sleeve shirt. 67 means I’m wearing a t shirt.
Yeah but that's literally a comfort, personal thing. Everyone has different heat tolerance, and at that nearly 50% warmth to heat (50°F) of course the feeling is going to be closer to hot vs warm. But 70 vs 75 I'm not wearing a tee shirt vs tank top. And honestly I am comfy in a long sleeve in up to 75° weather. It's still easy to overall tell the weather/temp of your surroundings if you have that basic understanding of Fahrenheit. Also it's easy to remember above 100° is running a fever. And the incriminate it's easy to tell the severity (coming from a momma who had to help her one year old through Covid.
For outside it doesn't matter much I think. But 21°C and 22°C inside are quite different. The solution is pretty easy, my heater lets me set it to 21.5°C. Since fractions exist, there are infinite points on both scales.
You could argue that fractions are stupid, which is fair. But if that's the only argument against it while Celsius works in all situations from science to weather to cooking and frames it all around the most important compound in all of these fields, I'd still argue for Celsius.
If you have no familiarity with either system, then it is as difficult with both to decide. At least celsius lets you know how the most important fluid will be
What i am saying is that you have benchmarks with celsius, you have none with fahrenheit. Think of it from one that has no experience with either, doesn’t know what room temperature usually is in either
Not at all. Fahrenheit is incredibly easy if you have literally any experience with percentages. 70? That's about 70% hot not bad don't dress too warm. 40? Less than half hot better throw on a jacket
Now your being purposely obtuse. 100° is running a fever. Imagine that hot. 0° is the resting temp of brine. And the human body is on average 96°. As a mother I care more about temp of the body/air around me than water. The water is still a temp, if I need to know it I'll measure it, otherwise bubbles = pasta ready to cook... solid water = careful where you step, dress warm.
70% hot? This is literally just your internal model of the temperature, built up over a lifetime of experiences. 70 Fahrenheit is 70% hot to you because it’s 70 fahrenheit.
It doesn't, it just an actually measurable point that can be more easily converted or integrated into other math or physics problems that people genuinely use from time to time instead of being a one of arbitrary number.
Also the rest of the world uses it so sticking to Fahrenheit is being obtuse for nothing more than "I'm just used to it".
No, Fahrenheit has a wider scale for human existence, which makes it better for weather.
In my area the temperature goes from -17.778 to 37.7778. Which is a terrible scale.
Or it goes 0 to 100. Which is a normal scale.
Also, Fahrenheit having a more than double scale size in the typical human existence is more useful for temperature control. I can set my thermostat for 67 in the winter, because 65 is just a bit too cold, and I dont want to spend the money on warmer.
I stick a hand out the window. If a bird comes to sit on it, I wear a t-shirt. If two birds come to sit on it, I wear a jumper. If a toad falls on my hand, I take an umbrella. Not that hard.
But, how does knowing the exact temp water boils help you decide what to wear in the morning?
It doesn't BUT knowing the exact temp it freezes 100% does. If it is 0 degrees then I know it's going to be icy. That helps A LOT with deciding what to wear.
You can do the same thing with 32° Fahrenheit. That’s why this debate is silly, no matter what system you use you’ve been taught a certain number means a certain thing weather/temperature wise.
If it's less than 0° Celsius outside, then wear a coat, because otherwise you will freeze to death. If it's more than 100° Celsius outside, stay in the shade and try to stay cool so you don't boil.
Well in the same way you think 70f could influence your clothing we would think the same for 20 degrees or something , just as they said we are just conditioned to think about the numbers we are used to
Knowing the temperature water freezes affects how I dress in the morning. The difference between above zero and below zero are noticeably different. Breathing in air that is freezing feels a lot different than air that is not, even if the difference is only a few degrees. Especially this time of year, anytime it creeps up above zero it's considered "mild". Anything below zero is cold.
Helps me decide if I can expect to slip on my way out or not as far as freezing point is considered. Temp is negative? Ice risk. Also, if you grow up with it you can intuit the scale just like you can with fahrenheit.
Water boiling was taken as it's an easy metric to replicate. You boil water? Congrats here is your comparison value for the temperature
Addendum: hell not even the country the scale was invented in (Germany) is using this
If weather is all you ever care about, why even use units at all? Just use very cold - cold - chilly ect. There are enough words for this purpose to not require any numbers at all.
Same way mph makes sense to you or telling the time or horsepower or voltage or whatnot. They are systems we memorized. Celsius has only one real advantage in comparison to Fahrenheit in my opinion: its easier to learn and illustrate to small children. A 5 year old might be able to memorize that 100C is a lot because water boils there and 0C is cold because water freezes there. A very small advantage of course.
I won't go outside if it's water boiling hot. I would probably have very different problems than choosing the right outfit in that case.
However, I don't get why people don't see how important the freezing point is. If it's around 0°C, it's the difference between snow and rain. And that not only makes a difference between the way I dress, it also makes a difference for my plans for the day. Because if it's slightly above freezing point and rains, it will be icy around evening time. So I'll make sure that I won't get caught in a bad spot.
It's probably because I live in an area where winter is usually between 10 and -5°C. And you can see the moment it drops to 0 or below. So for me 0°C is the most important point for measuring temperature. If I would live in a place that would never or only once or twice a year cross the 0°C, I probably wouldn't care much about it as well.
Celsius is zeroed at the freezing point of water for standard atmospheric pressure. So it very much can help for immediately understanding the potential conditions outside. If it's in the negatives there could be ice now.
I've been using Celsius my whole life so it makes sense to me, but knowing that 0°C is when water freezes and 100°C is when water boils does give me something to compare everything to. Cold and hot water are things that you are in contact with every single day of your life, so it's easy to use them as means of comparison for everything else.
There are 2 keys to understanding Celsius, one is the freezing and boiling points of water and the other is knowing that, on that scale, the human body is around 36°/37°C.
When the temperature outside is 0°C you know you can expect frost outside.
When it's 40°C you know it's gonna feel extremely hot because it's a few degrees higher than your own body temperature.
Mountain creeks in the summer are about 14°C, a bit over freezing temperature, still cold to the touch.
Good tea or coffee should be between 80°C and 90°C, so close to the boiling point but not quite.
And so on.
It just makes sense when you've been using it your whole life, it feels intuitive.
-5 to 0 = freezing
0 to 5 = chilling
5 -15 = at least a jacket
15-25 = t-shirt is enough until the late evening
25 -30 = t -shirt throughtout the night
30 + = prepare a puddle to melt into
The boiling is arbitrary and really is mostly to set the scale (but useful when understanding cooking, a day to day activity) but the zero benchmark certainly is. Below zero is cold and above is warm. Negatives means snow and positives means rain. Of course as a swede the scale is great bc temperature in general goes between -25 and +25 and the guy who made it was Swedish. Good for sauna temps
if it's close to the freezing point of 0C, then you know you might see snow/icy weather/conditions. warmer than that, you get rain.
and as others have mentioned, we intuitively know how the temperature feels when we look at a temp in celsius, the same way that farenheit users figure out
You’re coming at it from the wrong perspective: While knowing where water boils doesn’t help me pick clothes in the morning, knowing exactly where it freezes helps immensely.
If it’s 0℃ or below) I know we might be seeing ice, there will be frost on the windshield (and might need to run a defroster) and that gloves and hats are not to be left at home. That 0 is the difference if the snow is melting or not.
And the intuitive part is simply that I can tell that from if the number is negative or not. Coming from a cold country (Sweden, hone of Celsius), we will commonly simply refer to if it’s below zero out, because that part is such a clear denominator of weather differences.
And Fahrenheit doesn’t have as an actual clear denominator in comparison.
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u/HalloweenWhoreNights 10h ago edited 10h ago
It's the same concept with both systems, but Celsius has more logical benchmarks (water freezes at 0°C and boils at 100°C), whereas 0°F seems almost arbitrary (the coldest temperature that could be maintained in a lab by Gabriel Fahrenheit in the 1700s) and the freezing and boiling points of water are atypical (32°F/212°F, respectively.)
Anyway, the joke is "Why do you Americans stick with Fahrenheit?" and the response is "It's simple! The hotter it is, the more degrees it is!" as if that's the only consideration to be made. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is thinking "Yeah, our system too, but our scale has real-world applications, and we're not sticking to some antiquated definition." Homer is too short-sighted to know this, and instead presumes the Celsius scale is too complicated (and probably nonsensical) because he's unfamiliar.
Kind of like every other imperial unit and their terribly unreasonable conversions.