# The funny thing about Fahrenheit **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902 "2010-01-06T15:11:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/1 "2010-01-06T15:11:37Z")
A few years back when I was messing about with a F/C converter I noticed that -40 degrees is the same in Centigrade as in Fahrenheit. That’s the funny thing. The not so funny thing is that it’s going to be -40 degrees (C or F, take your pick) in this stupid country the next few days. I really can not imagine why people emigrated here in the first place. It was 0 degrees F here in my town yesterday and the sun goes down at 3 o clock in the afternoon. What the hell did people do to get moved here, I can’t believe my ancestors came here of their own free will. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/2 "2010-01-06T15:19:25Z")
The whole country is at -40? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/3 "2010-01-06T15:26:37Z")
Pardon the geekery, but it’s not that strange, really. If you have two straight lines on a graph with unequal slopes, they’ll eventually _have_ to meet somewhere. Since both scales were constructed with an integral number of steps between boiling and freezing for water, and multiples of ten at that, and since those points have whole numbers for those points, it’s not altogether surprising (although not essential) that the coincidence point is also a nice, integer number, rather than, say, -37 5/6. As a way of example, consider if you used the quickie, easy-to-remember formula for converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit – double and add thirty – instead of the correct formula – multiply by (9/5) and add 32 . You get -30 degrees as the coincidence point, which is also a nice, round integer divisible by ten. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/4 "2010-01-06T15:28:04Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > …What the hell did people do to get moved here, I can’t believe my ancestors came here of their own free will. That was always my little joke to my Canadian ex-wife. Things must have been pretty freakin’ bad in England and France a few centuries ago in order for people to want to migrate to an icebox. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/5 "2010-01-06T15:35:58Z")
One funny thing I learned when I was a kid in Lapland is that at -40 you can take a pot of boiling water and toss it straight up in the air, and the water will literally vanish in thin air. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/6 "2010-01-06T15:37:07Z")
It’s not really cold until spit freezes before it hits the ground. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/7 "2010-01-06T18:45:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Pardon the geekery, but it’s not that strange, really. > > If you have two straight lines on a graph with unequal slopes, they’ll eventually _have_ to meet somewhere. Since both scales were constructed with an integral number of steps between boiling and freezing for water, and multiples of ten at that, and since those points have whole numbers for those points, it’s not altogether surprising (although not essential) that the coincidence point is also a nice, integer number, rather than, say, -37 5/6. > > As a way of example, consider if you used the quickie, easy-to-remember formula for converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit – double and add thirty – instead of the correct formula – multiply by (9/5) and add 32 . You get -30 degrees as the coincidence point, which is also a nice, round integer divisible by ten. I was under the impression that the F scale was based on body heat (100) and “bloody cold” (0). And that mr F had a fever (or flawed equipment) when measuring his body heat (0 being the coldest temp he managed to measure?). Thx for the conversion formula. 🙂 > [@Leaffan](#): > > The whole country is at -40? No the coldest areas are expected to be at -40 during the week. Here it’s been about 0 F. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/8 "2010-01-06T18:52:30Z")
> [@](#): > > I was under the impression that the F scale was based on body heat (100) and “bloody cold” (0). And that mr F had a fever (or flawed equipment) when measuring his body heat (0 being the coldest temp he managed to measure?). There are many such stories about how Fahrenheit developed his odd scale, but they’re generally not true. Wikipedia is the easiest ref. to give: > **[Fahrenheit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit)** > > This is an accepted version of this page > > > The Fahrenheit scale (/ˈfærənhaɪt, ˈfɑːr-/) is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his scale exist, but the original paper suggests the lower defining point, 0 °F, was established as the freezing temperature of a solution of brine made from a mixture of water, ice, and ammonium chlor... ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/9 "2010-01-06T19:00:29Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > Thx for the conversion formula. 🙂 Modern conversion formula: type “-40 celsius in fahrenheit” (or whatever you want to calculate) into Google. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/10 "2010-01-06T19:02:19Z")
My pet peeve is people who talk about something in their local area, then don’t tell you what their local area is. Give it up, **Stoneburg!** 🙂 (-40 is friggin’ cold. Even I don’t go out walking much in that kind of temperature.) ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/11 "2010-01-06T19:26:40Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > It’s not really cold until spit freezes before it hits the ground. 😃 From an old joke book… \*Arctic Explorer: \*Boy, was it ever cold! Everything froze outside, including the flames of our cigarette lighters! _Antarctic Explorer:_ Feh. At our base, near the South Pole, our **words** froze outside! We had to take them inside and thaw them out to know what we were saying. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/12 "2010-01-06T19:35:00Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Modern conversion formula: type “-40 celsius in fahrenheit” (or whatever you want to calculate) into Google. Or even shortened to -40 c in f. Say, we’re not stumbling onto that answer for 40 k in a … whatever the heck it was, are we? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/13 "2010-01-06T20:11:13Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My pet peeve is people who talk about something in their local area, then don’t tell you what their local area is. Give it up, **Stoneburg!** 🙂 It says Norrköping in the profile, so Sweden I guess. But yes, I share your peeviness about that. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/14 "2010-01-06T21:23:30Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My pet peeve is people who talk about something in their local area, then don’t tell you what their local area is. Give it up, **Stoneburg!** 🙂 > > (-40 is friggin’ cold. Even I don’t go out walking much in that kind of temperature.) You know what, I thought that it said so below my name or something, it usually does at forums I frequent. I’m in east-central Sweden, Norrköping. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Medlo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hi\_Medlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Medlo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/15 "2010-01-06T21:31:34Z")
In my college physics 101 class we were given the problem of determining at what temperature both Farenheit and Centigrade thermometers read the same. The first guy to answer the question (a quarterback on a local minor league football team) determined that it was “Minus 27 Farenheit and minus 34 Centigrade” lol ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/16 "2010-01-06T23:04:12Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > You know what, I thought that it said so below my name or something, it usually does at forums I frequent. I’m in east-central Sweden, Norrköping. My apologies. Because you’re not a member your location information doesn’t display. It’ll be 40 C here next week, thats **+** 40 C. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/17 "2010-01-06T23:09:18Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Or even shortened to -40 c in f.[/SIZE] Ooooh, then you don’t even have to remember how to spell Fahrenheit. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/18 "2010-01-06T23:46:10Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > A few years back when I was messing about with a F/C converter I noticed that -40 degrees is the same in Centigrade as in Fahrenheit. That’s the funny thing. An even funnier thing is that that’s almost exactly the temperature that mercury, a liquid often used for thermometers, freezes solid at (well, -39.x°). ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/19 "2010-01-06T23:53:33Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > It was 0 degrees F here in my town yesterday and the sun goes down at 3 o clock in the afternoon. What the hell did people do to get moved here, I can’t believe my ancestors came here of their own free will. My ancestors (some of them, anyway) lived near there, and they left. I’m not sure Nebraska was a huge improvement, weather-wise, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/20 "2010-01-07T00:52:16Z")
All of Sweden is -40? You poor bastards. No wonder you drink. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902.md?page=2)