# 0 degrees F
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [January 31, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221 "2014-01-31T18:26:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2014, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/21 "2014-02-08T11:34:20Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#):
>
> And agreed about time needing to be metric. One hundred seconds should equal one minute, one hundred minutes an hour, and so on. Just as one thousand years is the same as one millennium. Someone fell down on the job.
Federale minimum wage doesn’t seem so bad under metric, but it’ll be a negative Freedom day in hell before that happens.
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### Author:  [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/22 "2014-02-08T13:43:57Z")
The French Revolutionaries tried to institute a decimal based clock and calender.
[Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time)
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### Author:  [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/23 "2014-02-08T23:47:47Z")
You can’t make a uniformly decimal clock and calendar because the mean solar day and the tropical year are incommensurate.
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### Author:  [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/24 "2014-02-10T21:25:50Z")
> [@Kiwi-Ian](#):
>
> Was there a significant change when they renamed the Centigrade scale to Celsius? Both had 0° as the freezing and 100° as the boiling points of pure water at one atmosphere. Unless you are using the triple point of water (0.1°C which is tiny but exact but that applied to both Centigrade and Celsius).
>
> There was a change when the international system of units defined temperature using Kelvin. One Kelvin = one degree Celsius/Centigrade but 0 K is absolute zero (minus 273.16°C). Kelvin doesn’t use “degrees”.
>
> Centigrade is now defunct as a name. Farenheit should be defunct as a scale. It’s bloody difficult to work with.
“Centigrade” is an adjective describing scales like Celsius and the Kelvin scale. It means “divided into 100 parts”. That’s all. Some people used to use “centigrade” to mean “Celsius” because at the time it was the only widely known centigrade scale.
Powers &8^]
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### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/25 "2014-02-10T23:42:47Z")
We should use degrees Watchwolf … it’s 80º all the time, buck-o, quit complaining.
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### Author:  [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/26 "2014-02-11T00:41:41Z")
> [@qazwart](#):
>
> I actually like Fahrenheit. To me, it works better on a daily basis than Celsius.
>
> For example:
>
> [ul]
> [li] Temperature _in the 70s_ is perfect.[/li][li] Temperature _in the 60s_ is cool.[/li][li] Temperature _in the 50s_ is getting a bit nippy.[/li][li] Temperature _in the 40s_ is cold.[/li][li] Temperature _in the 30s_ means it’s time to make a hot toddy.[/li][li] Temperature _in the 20s_ means forget about making it hot. Open that damn bottle![/li][/ul]
>
> I can say, “_the temperature today will be in the 60s_”, and I know I may need a light sweater. If I say “_it’s in the 70s_”, a short sleeve shirt is fine. If it’s _"in the 90s_", I’m staying inside, putting the air condition on, and leaving the pants off.
>
> Celsius just doesn’t work as well. 21 degrees is near perfect, but 19 is already a bit cold, and 25 is getting a bit warm. Maybe that’s why Fahrenheit was so popular for so long despite it’s illogical temperatures for the freezing and boiling points of water.
See I don’t understand Fahrenheit. Celcius just has a narrower range. So for me, when I hear the weather forecast…
0-5 overnight is bloody cold and means I’ll have ice on the windscreen in the morning.
\<15 top temp is a jacket or jumper.
around 25, give or take a few degrees is damn near perfect for relaxing.
28-33 is swimming weather.
\>35 is getting ready to turn on the air con.
\> 40, air con better be going and the beer cold
\>45 (which is 113 F) I’m not going outside unless it starts raining naked supermodels and then I’m only going far enough to grab the closest couple and drag them inside.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/27 "2014-02-11T01:16:35Z")
The degree Celsius is also closer than the degree Fahrenheit to the human ability to distinguish temperatures. You probably can’t tell the difference between 72 and 73 degrees, so why give the temperature to that much precision? But you can tell the difference between 25 and 26 degrees.
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### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/28 "2014-02-11T02:03:53Z")
The problem is mixing the scales … it’s a very serious problem at the Olympics if temperature is going over 60ºC … took me a second to realize they mean 60ºF.
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### Author:  [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/29 "2014-02-11T14:53:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> The degree Celsius is also closer than the degree Fahrenheit to the human ability to distinguish temperatures. You probably can’t tell the difference between 72 and 73 degrees, so why give the temperature to that much precision? But you can tell the difference between 25 and 26 degrees.
It’s really what you’re use to. I don’t think Fahrenheit is a terrible scale. I don’t think pounds, feet, yards, miles, and inches are terrible measurements either. Sure, I can’t tell you how many inches there are in a mile, but I don’t really care in the end. A mile is about 1000 paces. My feet are a bit over a foot long (no brag, just fact). My hand is 4" wide. A dollar bill is about 6" long. It works out quite nicely.
The big issue is being the only country in the world with this unit of measurement. Does it hinder trade? Are we hurting ourselves economically because of it. If it is, I’d say change. It’s not a religious issue.
God didn’t invent the inch and foot. He gave use the shekel weight, and the cubit. If we used those, you’d have an argument. But Inches and pounds? We just made those up just like the French made up meters and grams. It’s not an American vs. UnAmerican issue. There’s nothing in our founding documents that use these measurements. It’s simply a matter of change.
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### Author:  [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/30 "2014-02-11T15:09:05Z")
Plus, there is this.
“Can I borrow a cup of sugar?” is a lot easier to say than “Can I borrow 236.5 milliliters of sugar?”
“How much baking soda do I use?”
“4.9 milliliters”
???
“How the fuck do I measure that?”
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### Author:  [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/31 "2014-02-11T17:43:21Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#):
>
> Plus, there is this.
>
> “Can I borrow a cup of sugar?” is a lot easier to say than “Can I borrow 236.5 milliliters of sugar?”
>
> “How much baking soda do I use?”
>
> “4.9 milliliters”
>
> ???
>
> “How the fuck do I measure that?”
That works both ways, you know. A quarter liter is a lot easier to say than 1.0567 cups. 5 ml is a much rounder number than 1.0144 tsp.
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> The degree Celsius is also closer than the degree Fahrenheit to the human ability to distinguish temperatures. You probably can’t tell the difference between 72 and 73 degrees, so why give the temperature to that much precision? But you can tell the difference between 25 and 26 degrees.
I couldn’t tell you the temperatures that accurately, but raising our thermostat by 1 degree F certainly makes a noticeable difference.
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### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/32 "2014-02-11T18:34:18Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#):
>
> “Can I borrow a cup of sugar?” is a lot easier to say than “Can I borrow 236.5 milliliters of sugar?”
A cup is 8.672 x _e_[sup]2.013[/sup] Coulomb-second per cubic ha’league per degree Watchwolf … which impoverished third-world nation did YOU get a public education from?
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### Author:  [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/33 "2014-02-12T13:23:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> The degree Celsius is also closer than the degree Fahrenheit to the human ability to distinguish temperatures. You probably can’t tell the difference between 72 and 73 degrees, so why give the temperature to that much precision? But you can tell the difference between 25 and 26 degrees.
I’d rather have a bit too much precision than a bit too little. The smaller Fahrenheit degree also has the advantage of meaning errors of one or two degrees don’t mean as much.
Powers &8^]
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### Author:  [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/34 "2014-02-13T01:34:22Z")
Too much precision can be harmful. Consider the completely wrong notion that the normal body temperature for human beings is 98.6°F, when it’s really 37°C.
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### Author:  [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/35 "2014-02-13T15:57:10Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#):
>
> Too much precision can be harmful. Consider the completely wrong notion that the normal body temperature for human beings is 98.6°F, when it’s really 37°C.
Absolutely, it should be 99°F to keep the same number of sigfigs. But considering the F measurement is too precise because it uses _tenths_ of a degree, that’s hardly an argument that the whole Fahrenheit degree is too precise.
Powers &8^]
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### Author:  [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/36 "2014-02-13T17:44:18Z")
Body temperature varies a lot, and it depends on where you measure it.
Internal temp is “around” 100 F
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### Author:  [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/37 "2014-02-13T17:45:21Z")
Or “about” 37.7778 C
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### Author:  [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/38 "2014-02-13T17:53:25Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#):
>
> See I don’t understand Fahrenheit. Celcius just has a narrower range. So for me, when I hear the weather forecast…
>
> 0-5 overnight is bloody cold and means I’ll have ice on the windscreen in the morning.
>
> \<15 top temp is a jacket or jumper.
>
> around 25, give or take a few degrees is damn near perfect for relaxing.
>
> 28-33 is swimming weather.
>
> \>35 is getting ready to turn on the air con.
>
> \> 40, air con better be going and the beer cold
>
> \>45 (which is 113 F) I’m not going outside unless it starts raining naked supermodels and then I’m only going far enough to grab the closest couple and drag them inside.
I always heard the rhyme “Zero is freezing, 10 is not, 20 is comfortable, 30 is hot”
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/39 "2014-02-13T22:28:14Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#):
>
> Or “about” 37.7778 C
Most normal human beings I know keep a comfortable metabolically-correct body temperature of 310 degrees\*.
\*Kelvin, of course. Physiology is a science, so we should use a scientifically valid temperature scale. And nothing says “zero” like “absolute zero”.
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### Author:  [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/0-degrees-f/680221/40 "2014-02-13T22:34:56Z")
I now want all my medical records changed to Kelvin
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