Celsius may be better for chemistry. Fahrenheit is better for real life

Celsius may be better for chemistry. Fahrenheit is better for real life(isomorphism.es)

4 points by bbali 10 years ago | 3 comments

Basically, the argument boils down to 2 points:

1. Fahrenheit is more granular, by design

2. Americans are used to Fahrenheit and learning new things is not cognitively free.

Fahrenheit, as a scale, was created in a similar fashion to Celsius. But then the Fahrenheit scale was multiplied by 4. Like Celsius, Fahrenheit starts at freezing and boiling points - of brine (salt water), not pure water. This gives a lower freezing point (and boiling point?). Then that output was multiplied by 4, giving us the scale we have today.

My preferred solution is a compromise -- create a new temperature scale that is just Celsius multiplied by 4. On this scale:

  * Water freezes at 0 degrees
  * A nice room temperature is 80 degrees
  * Water boils at 400 degrees
  * Your oven dial would run from 260 degrees to 1040 degrees.

amyjess 10 years ago | |

Well, the main argument I saw in the OP, which I've been advocating among friends for a while, is that in Fahrenheit, 0-100° is the difference between a cold day and a hot day, which makes it more ideal for "what's the weather like today?".

With Celsius, on the other hand, you're not going above 40°, and thus so much of that 0-100° space is useless for real life.

stephengillie 10 years ago | | |

And how would you feel about the new scale I proposed? It gives you the scale you want and it's easier to convert to scientific scales like Celsius and Kelvin.