Crick&Watson wrote:
All right, then, what about Kelvin vs. Rankine? (The Rankine temperature scale is the Fahrenheit scale with the zero point set to Absolute Zero, in the same way that the Kelvin scale is the Celsius scale with the zero point set to Absolute Zero.)
Ants:
OK, having established that much…I assert that one scale is better than two, no matter what! You want to have to convert?
(Personally I think we’d be using the metric system now if the idiots in charge of introducing the metric system in the schools hadn’t concentrated on $&^#!! conversion equations!)
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But I’d assurt that the more choices the better. If one was best, then we’d all probably using Kelvin. And I’d love to see the weather reports that day.
“It’s going to be a virtual ice-box tonight, with temperatures dropping down to 247 degrees!”
(Of those who need to know, that is 26°C or -15°F)
Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it.
For the pedantic folks out there playing the home game of find the mistakes, I meant **-**26°C. For the more pedantic, I rounded the numbers. And finally, I know that in official usages you don’t say 247 degrees Kelvin, you just say 247 Kelvin
I tend to favor the fahrenheit scale, not just because I am familiar with it, but Celcius 232.777777777… makes for an uninteresting book title.
The facts, although interesting, are irrelevent.
One interesting thing that has been left out of this debate so far-- When Celcius came up with his scale, he made freezing 100 and boiling 0! Whoever started using it (the french, I guess) inverted the scale to the more sensible, and familiar form now in use. I, being a biased American, think that Farenheit is more useful, although it’s a pain in the ass when giong abroad. But, unfortunately for those who would like a universal measurement system, there has not yet been enough economic pressure to convert to metrics. That is, since the US is such a large market, companies can afford to make things based on inches and pounds for use in the States, and metric for exports.
It’s not how you pick your nose, it’s where you put the boogers
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“1” face=“Verdana, Arial”>code:</font><HR><pre>Boy I’m getting sick of having to type [SUP]o[/SUP]!!
Okay, how about this: The scale of electro-magnetic radiation measures everything, from X-rays to heat, in cycles per second. But it's only the relatively tiny part we humans can see, visible light, that we name red, green, blue etc.
Temperature can go from solid Hydrogen (absolute zero) to the center of the sun (+50 million degrees) and Kelvin covers them all. But for us pathetic little humans, temperature consists primarily of: summer hot, winter cold, i.e. the relatively tiny range we can feel with our skin.
Since we like to group things in tens and since 1 to 10 isn't enough, it makes sense to use 0 to 100 as a scale.
**So I ask you all,** which range of 100 units better fits the temperatures humans can experience :
0[SUP]o[/SUP] to 100 [SUP]o[/SUP] C (32[SUP]o[/SUP] to 212[SUP]o[/SUP] F)
or
0[SUP]o[/SUP] to 100[SUP]o[/SUP] F (-18[SUP]o[/SUP] to 38[SUP]o[/SUP] C)
Or conversely, which scale is more based on ten (metric's big selling point):
0[SUP]o[/SUP] to 100[SUP]o[/SUP] F
or (I'll even round a bit)
-20[SUP]o[/SUP] to 40[SUP]o[/SUP] C ?
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*I for one welcome our new insect overlords...* - K. BrockmanI posted this in the other thread with the same name but I thought everyone playing the game should see this.
<font color=purple>The big argument for change seems to be, “The rest of the world is doing it.” Well yeah, and it probably makes sense for all the other measures, but the only place where Fahrenheit is used largely here is in weather forecasting and reporting. It is not like meterologist are a large part of our international trade.</font>
This thread in “General Questions” http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/005703.html
Hail Ants is absolutely correct in everything he says. All who oppose him are fools.
ALL temperature scales are arbitrary! Even Kelvin, which has a logical starting point – absolute zero the point at which molecular motion stops which is as cold as it can get – becomes simply a human contrivance once it starts moving up away from AbZee. What, I ask you all, is a “degree”? It has no more objective reality than a “second”.
So when the question comes up as to how to report the weather, the only logical answer is Farenheit (sp? Farenheight, Fair’nHot, Fargofoot, Oh who cares!)
I don’t understand why you “go metric” moonies with your base-ten fetish would like that stupid C thing better than the fine old F. In terms of reporting the air temperature, the whole 50-100 C range of the scale is useless. It might as well not even exist! The temp of frozen water is NOT as low as the air temp commonly gets even in temperate climes, so setting that as the starting point of the scale is silly. As for what the top end of the scale should be, well, when was the last time you switched on the Weather Channel and heard the Weather Babe say, “Whew, it’s 189 farenheit in the northeast today. Better use sunblock. . .”
Unless the sun blows up, 110-212 F is largely irrelevant for reporting the weather, in the same way that 50-100 C is irrelevant now. And if the sun does blow up, the electromagnetic pulse will smother the com satellites and you won’t be able to get the Weather Channel anyway.
Perhaps “Flashpoint” would’ve been a better title, then? (Assuming a nonexistance of the F scale)
Naah, it would just have been “Celsius 233”, which sounds like some sort of car engine.
Speaking of which, was it Cecil who I remember reading to the effect that 98.6F was not determined directly as “Body Temperature”, but rather was an unnecessarily exact conversion of 37C?
AHunter3 wrote:
I always thought that was a plot to make sure the Metric System never caught on in this country.
I remember when the first highway signs popped up with “km” on them. Many of them immediately became the target of choice of those rednecks who like to drive around with their shotguns and shoot at signs. (Maybe it was 'cause the Soviet Union used the Metric System, so therefore kilometers were obviously Communist.)
[Moderator Hat ON]
Since this thread has a duplicate at http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001268.html now, I’m closing this one.
[Moderator Hat OFF]