this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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I was taught both.
Just like I was taught both metric and imperial.
I use both temp scales, though fahrenheit is more common.
I use both measurements scales, though imperial is more common.
One thing I've never understood though. Metric is more precise for measurements (at least without needing to involve fractional measures). I totally get why it's superior for a lot of things, and indeed it is used in many places for this exact reason.
Why would anyone say Celsius is better? Apart from freezing and boiling temps seeming somewhat arbitrary with fahrenheit, does it not allow for much higher precision with regards to temperature identification without resorting to decimals? Isn't this the same rationale used with metric vs imperial? It seems like a double standard to me, because remembering two temperatures (for boiling and freezing) seems like a small price to pay for a more precise system.
I've always thought Fahrenheit was the better measurement in regards to weather. 0 F is uncomfortably cold, 100 F is uncomfortably hot. It makes so much sense for the weather. 0 C is freezing, 100 C you are dead. Of course, for most things Celsius makes more sense, and even though I live in the US I don't even know how to measure computer temperatures in F, it just sounds crazy. When it comes to weather though? Fahrenheit is where it is, in my opinion.
Please guys, I know plenty of you will disagree with me, that's okay, this is just my opinion. Please don't get upset I know metric is generally better!
I always found fahrenheit a lot more arbitrary: in Celsius 0 is the freezing of water, so if you are driving/walking, that is a very important temperature to look out for. Also 30 being hot or 100 being hot outside does not really make a difference. Some people find 30 hot, some other find it OK, since its subjective anyway
Water freezes at 0°C at standard pressure, sea level.
If you are above or below, it will be different.
Saying "It's not 0°C outside so there's no ice on the road" is dumb. Because there could definitely be ice on the road.
You should be looking out for other things while driving. Not if the one thermometer, who knows where, is saying that it's 0°C or not.
As usual, there should be a bit of flexibility in there. I am not saying "oh, it's 0C, therefore ALL water in all town is frozen , lets wait until it gets to 1C so all water melt". But more on the line "oh, its around 0C (+ or - 5C), lets be careful while driving because some of the streets might have ice". Farenheit freezing temp is 32 I think? Thats VERY arbitrary. A lot more than C.
23°F to 41°F is -5°C to 5°C
If it's below 40°F I'd be cautious of Ice. Once again, it doesn't matter that water freezes at exactly 32°F at standard pressure.
It's like boiling water. No one puts a thermometer in water to make sure that it hits 100°C exactly.
150°F water will scald you in a second (65°C)
140°F water will scaled you in 3 seconds (60°C)
120°F water will scaled you in 10 minutes (50°C)
+100°F water has the potential to scaled you (~40°C)
I'd rather know that +100°F water has a chance to burn me than remembering +40°C has a chance.
That's way more important knowledge than the freezing and boiling temperatures of water at standard pressure.
You are already using Celsius as well. If you just did not know Fahrenheit, you obviously would not miss it. To us Celcius feels just as natural as Fahrenheit does to you. It would be nice to have one global system we can agree on, just like we agree on english being the language of the internet. English is my 2nd language and if I can learn a whole other language, then americans can learn metric. (Is celcius part of the metric system? I have no idea tbh)
Celcius isn't rocket science
For 99% of things it's simply reading a thermometer or typing in numbers on a device to set a temperature.
Just like I would have to look up what temperature to bake my cookies, 325°F, 350°F, 400°F. I'd have to look it up to cook them in C.
Me "knowing" the system doesn't help me. Because I have no idea what 325°F really is. That would cook my skin, no way I'm "feeling" it. All it is is just a number to me. If I had to push 325 or 163 on my oven it makes no difference to me.
When someone says I put a liter of gas in my car, I can reasonably think and know what a liter is. To me, the easiest way is that it's half of a 2L of soda because soda is sold in metric liters, and it gives me a reference. I also know that a liter is basically 1/4 gallon.
But when you say 28°C, I have nothing to compare it to. I know 40°C is really hot, and 20°C is basically room temperature. Even that doesn't even help me. So I guess I can deduce it's somewhere in the middle? It's 82°F. But I have no reference to how 28°C feels.
82°F. Is low 80's, I know what low 80's feels like. Easy for me to figure out the realitive temperature.
Fahrenheit and weather temperatures just line up so good at 0-100.
But if you just thought of 82°F as 82% hot you could easily get a general idea of how hot it is.
Livable temperatures are between 50°F and 100°F. Humans like it halfway between the two. ~75% hot. 65°F is a cold house, 85°F is a hot house. 99% of homes are between those two and still averages to 75°F.
1°F is smaller than 1°C.
82°F vs 83°F a normal person wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But you know, as it approaches 85°F or 90°F it's definitely heating up.
I could say 93°F. 93% hot. That's pretty hot. I'm sure you could wrap your mind around that.
But tell me 34°C and how am I suppose to really quickly wrap my head around that?
6° less than the hottest realistic temperature outside? I don't even know how 1°C drop feels, much less 6°.
Fahrenheit is asking a human how hot it is, Celsius is asking water. This is what I was taught. I have no idea how you ask water for anything
Billions of people use Celsius to determine how hot it is. Are they not human?
Maybe, maybe not but surely they are mostly water
The problem is that humans are subjective in my opinion. Water is not (or at least not the the degree humans are). With the same pressure, all water freeze at the same temp. Ask a Minnesotan or a Floridian (just to remain within the US, can use Greek/Norwegian for EU) what "cold" means, and they'll have VERY different answers
No they're not. They're just meat popsicles.
I mean, we could get the temperature up to 100 and see which are human and which are meat..
laughs in Finnish sauna