# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/41 "2010-01-08T00:57:20Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > I don’t know about Belize, but [according to this site](http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/internat.htm#jamaica), the conversion of Jamaica to the metric system is well under way. I was looking over the US Metric Associaltion site last week, and was amused to discover that their application form is on a non-metric-sized PDF. 🙂 ---
**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 8, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/42 "2010-01-08T22:05:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > 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°). I’m glad someone pointed that neat fact out. > [@dhkendall](#): > > Or, you can, you know, **have your country adopt a friggin’ system that makes sense and everyone else understands!!!** > > I mean, why, when 200 countries use metric, and 3 use the Imperial system (US, Liberia, and Myanmar) do the rest of us have to cater to your whims? Gah! > > I say the 200 of us could take you in a fight, we should try to make your heads aslode by referencing everything in strange measurements … Oh, just cool off! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/43 "2010-01-08T22:53:22Z")
Or, if you get a headache over calculations, here’s a table [http://www.temperatureworld.com/ctable1.htm](http://www.temperatureworld.com/ctable1.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/44 "2010-01-08T23:59:25Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > 104 F?! Christ, I hope it’s a dry heat. But hopefully not such a dry heat that the eucalyptus trees express vaporized oils into the air allowing the air to literally catch on fire like last year. ---
**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 9, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/45 "2010-01-09T00:46:05Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > But hopefully not such a dry heat that the eucalyptus trees express vaporized oils into the air allowing the air to literally catch on fire like last year. It’s annoying when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/46 "2010-01-09T00:53:39Z")
> [@True Blue Jack](#): > > 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. That’s actually an important plot element (Arctic explorers having to “thaw out” frozen words) in one episode of _The Mighty Boosh_, you know. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/47 "2010-01-09T11:57:52Z")
[quote=“1920s Style “Death Ray”, post:16, topic:523902”] 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. [/QUOTE] It was -6F / -22C when I had to take the dog out this morning. I hate you. Just saying. > [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Don’t bother with conversions at all – just remember a few common temps, and you can think in Celsius: > > 180°C = oven baking temp > 100°C = boiling water > 37°C = normal body temp > 20°C = comfortable room temp > 0°C = freezing water > -40°C = -40°F = cold as hell in either scale! I don’t really have that much trouble thinking in Celcius… :dubious: ---
**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 9, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/48 "2010-01-09T19:07:09Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > That’s actually an important plot element (Arctic explorers having to “thaw out” frozen words) in one episode of _The Mighty Boosh_, you know. 🙂 No, I didn’t know anything about it. (I wonder now if any writers read a paperback joke book from the 60’s. It was soooo old that I can recall an ad for a [Jack Paar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Paar) book, “I Kid You Not” on the back. For those who do not know, Jack Paar was most famous for “The Tonight Show” pre-Carson. There is more at the link. – And now I’m begiining to wonder if Paar himself assembled the jokes and edited the book.) It looks like an [interesting show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mighty_Boosh_(TV_series)). I haven’t watched any television shows in months. Thanks for the info. 🙂 ---
**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 9, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/49 "2010-01-09T19:29:03Z")
“Frozen words” goes at least as far back as the Paul Bunyon stories, where it’s just one of many anecdotes of “it was so cold that…”. (example: “-We slept under so many blankets we had to call for help to roll over”). ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/50 "2010-01-09T23:26:18Z")
I wish we’d convert to SI and state temperatures in kelvins. Only yesterday I was trying to deal with estimating the differences in temperatures to the fourth power for a thermal problem. But if that isn’t going to happen, because temperatures make more sense with that offset to them, then I propose we define the current 58 inches to be zero, and allow for negative lengths, with this offset, just like temperatures. After all, most things are bigger than 58 inches, so it would make the values smaller and more reasonable and more natural feeling, like Celsius over Kelvin temperatures. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/51 "2010-01-10T03:52:49Z")
> [@True Blue Jack](#): > > It looks like an [interesting show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mighty_Boosh_(TV_series)). I haven’t watched any television shows in months. Thanks for the info. 🙂 It’s one of my favourite shows but I should warn you, it’s _very_ surreal. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/52 "2010-01-10T06:50:08Z")
Current temps at post time: [ul] [li]Adelaide, Australia - 104\*F[/li][li]Alice Springs, NT Australia - 73 \*F[/li][li]Minneapolis, MN USA - 2.8 \*F[/li][li]Pensacola, FL USA - 26.6 \*F[/li][li]Atlanta, GA USA - 23.3 \*F[/li][li]Calgary, AL CAN - 39 \*F[/li][li]Stockholm, Sweden - 17.7 \*F[/li][li]Mumbai, India - 84 \*F (and smoke)[/li][/ul] All from here —\> [http://www.wunderground.com/](http://www.wunderground.com/) ---
**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 10, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/53 "2010-01-10T14:42:40Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Current temps at post time: > [ul] > [li]Adelaide, Australia - 104\*F[/li][/ul] That’s me, or at least it was until yesterday morning. At your post time I was, [ul][_]Broome, Australia - 88_F[/ul] ---
**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 10, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/54 "2010-01-10T19:42:26Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > \ > [li]Calgary, AL CAN - 39 \*F[/li]\ That’s funny - it didn’t feel a hair over 4ºC. 😃 ETA: Alberta isn’t abbreviated AL - it’s AB. AL is Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/55 "2010-01-12T10:34:36Z")
> [@MoodIndigo1](#): > > -40 without wind is great weather for a walk. At that temperature, it’s usually sunny outside, great for the morale. The snow becomes sort of brittle and it makes a sort of a crystalline sound underfoot. I love it. Would you like to go for some colder walks in the name of science? Thanks! [**At what temperature will your eyeballs freeze?**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547508) > [@At what temperature will your eyeballs freeze?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperature-will-your-eyeballs-freeze/524645/1): > > And what keeps them from freezing before that temperature? > > This post got me wondering: > > Assume no eye protection. > > Corollary 1: Is there a temperature at which our eyeballs will freeze before we hit hypothermia? > > Corollary 2: If our eyeballs froze, and we were still conscious, what would be the resultant effect on our vision? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/56 "2010-01-12T17:09:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Seriously, get on board with the rest of the world. I’m all for the U.S. switching to metric when it comes to measuring distances and volumes and weights and all that stuff. But keep your hands off my temperature scale! The 0-to-100 scale is a very natural scale to want to work with, and I don’t blame the scientists’ desiring a temperature scale where 0-to-100 fitted _their_ needs, which are apparently to match up to the range where water is a liquid. But most of us human beings live in more or less temperate climates, and the Fahrenheit scale puts the 0-to-100 range in the right place for _us_, where we’re using almost all of that interval, but rarely exceeding it. So I’m perfectly content with scientists’ working in Celsius units, and the rest of us in Fahrenheit. If the rest of the world also wants to use a Celsius scale, fine. And maybe global warming will eventually make the Celsius scale a better fit than it is now. But for right now, I want to keep my Fahrenheit scale for everyday stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/57 "2010-01-12T23:51:38Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > The fact that -40 C = -40 F gives a neat conversion method. Namely, add 40, multiply by 5/9 (to go F –\> C) or 9/5 (C –\> F) and then subtract 40. E.g., for 20C this gets you 9/5\*60 - 40 = 108 - 60 = 68. Easiest conversion that I know of from C –\> F is to double C, subtract 10% from it (easier than taking 90% of it), and add 32. (20C)\*2=40, 40-4=36, 36+32=68F (-40C)\*2=-80, -80-(-8)=-72, -72+32=-40F Likewise, conversion from F –\> C is to subtract 32 from F, add 11.111% (essentially rounding up to the next whole number if you only used 10%), and halve it. (68F)-32=36, 36+4=40, 40/2=20C (-40F)-32=-72, -72+(-8)=-80, -80/2=-40C ---
**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 13, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/58 "2010-01-13T02:09:29Z")
Easiest conversion from C to F is google “x celsius fahrenheit.” 🙂 ---
**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 13, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/59 "2010-01-13T14:19:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Easiest conversion from C to F is google “x celsius fahrenheit.” 🙂 No, it’s “x c in f”. That way, you don’t have to remember how to spell Fahrenheit. ---
**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 13, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902/60 "2010-01-13T18:31:08Z")
::Tries it:: Oh my God, you’re right! You don’t even need to type in the rest! Google, you are truly amazing! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-funny-thing-about-fahrenheit/523902.md?page=2)