Best temperature scale?

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Which scale do you prefer and why?

I’m largely in favor of Fahrenheit and or Rankine. As anyone who has ever fought over a thermostat knows you can feel the difference between 71 and 73 F. That’s 21.6 and 22.7 C. Just isn’t as neat, takes up more room on displays, and takes longer to say verbally. The Fahrenheit scale seems based around human perception while Celsius is all about water. Considering we have Kelvin and Rankine for scientific needs I don’t really see a use for Celsius. In that same vein if we were ever to unify scientific and creature comfort scales I’d vote for Rankine as it uses the Fahrenheit stepping.

 

[MRCL]

I still have my problems with Fahrenheit. I grew up with Celsius, I can aply it to my regular life, so Celsius is best for me.

Same goes with metric and imperial measurement. I can see why imperial has its advantages, but I grew up with metric.

So its not really a preference, I'm just used to it. And doing mental math every time I look at a thermometer isn't something I wanna put up with.

 

[Fourstaff]

Its a bit like arguing between miles and kilometres, isnt it? I grew up in a Celsius environment, so its Celsius, along with kilometres. I the world to migrate to Celsius and miles just like we migrated away from vacuum tubes (in my humble opinion).

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Fahrenheit's scale is based on the temperature at which water freezes in brine water (meaning it has a buffer between it and normal water freezing--less likely to go negative) and the temperature of Ms. Fahrenheit's mouth. It was modified a bit since then for accuracy (body temp is 98.6 instead of 100) but the idea is still the same. And yes, I agree. For everyday use, Fahrenheit is most practical.

 

[twilyth]

. . . and the temperature of Ms. Fahrenheit's mouth. It was modified a bit since then for accuracy (body temp is 98.6 instead of 100) . . .

So I guess she was hot.

Fahrenheit is more convenient since you can feel a 1 degree F difference but you won't really notice anything less than that. I'm comfortable at about 78F and can feel the difference if it goes a degree higher or lower. It doesn't make a huge difference to me, but I can feel it.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

I wouldn't get too hung up on what you grew up on. I may prefer Fahrenheit but I also prefer metric. It's like Pluto. I don't give a crap that it isn't a planet. Still don't get why anyone bothers to care... especially when you don't have to deal with it day to day, but I imagine that could be a thread in itself.

 

[micropage7]

i guess it depends on the usage, celcius is fine,
for me im familiar with celcius

 

[Wile E]

Fahrenheit for room temps and baking. Celcius for component temps.

 

[Wyverex]

Well, I prefer Celsius for 2 reasons:
1) I grew up using it
2) 1°C = 1 K, so it makes it a lot easier for scientific use (you just add or subtract 273.15, no dividing or multiplying)

PS There is no *best* scale, but there is a scale that's set as standard (that'd be Kelvin)

 

[Frick]

Which scale do you prefer and why?

I’m largely in favor of Fahrenheit and or Rankine. As anyone who has ever fought over a thermostat knows you can feel the difference between 71 and 73 F. That’s 21.6 and 22.7 C. Just isn’t as neat, takes up more room on displays, and takes longer to say verbally.

That's because you've used it. I have never used F, and I have never said xx.x. It's not 25.5, it's 25 or 26 depending on how you are. Not like it matters. Most swedish thermometers looked like this (before the digital ones started coming):

It would take a generation to switch from one system to another. I don't think I could ever get used to F as C pretty much sits in my spine.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

If you're rounding you're losing accuracy. It would be one thing if people couldn't perceive it, but they can. You might like 25.5, and you might not like 26. That's about a degrees difference on the Fahrenheit scale. Yes, we fight over having the thermostat at 70 vs 71 on a regular basis at my house. At this point I'm not arguing for a change, people are too lazy to ever change something like that, I'm just saying one makes more sense for a human application.

 

[Fourstaff]

If you're rounding you're losing accuracy. It would be one thing if people couldn't perceive it, but they can. You might like 25.5, and you might not like 26. That's about a degrees difference on the Fahrenheit scale. Yes, we fight over having the thermostat at 70 vs 71 on a regular basis at my house. At this point I'm not arguing for a change, people are too lazy to ever change something like that, I'm just saying one makes more sense for a human application.

Its true that Fahrenheit scale is a bit more "sensitive" than Celsius, but on the other hand if you are used to Celsius you will be fightining over 22 and 23

 

[Deleted member 3]

Fahrenheit's scale is based on the temperature at which water freezes in brine water (meaning it has a buffer between it and normal water freezing--less likely to go negative) and the temperature of Ms. Fahrenheit's mouth. It was modified a bit since then for accuracy (body temp is 98.6 instead of 100) but the idea is still the same. And yes, I agree. For everyday use, Fahrenheit is most practical.

Why is it more practical?

 

[Fourstaff]

Why is it more practical?

Because he is used to it.

 

[freebie]

I've always grown up with Celsius so that's what I use, but if I'm honest Fahrenheit just confuses me because I don't know it very well.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Why is it more practical?

1. When discussing weather, negatives are uncommon in fahrenheit while it is common in celcius.
2. It is more precice because it has 180 ticks between water freezing and water boiling as opposed to 100.
3. Anything over 100F can be considered a fever in a human (easy number to remember).
4. The temperature at which water boils really isn't important in every day life because, well, water boils when it boils. You don't need a themometer to tell you that (this is why it lands on 212F--no one cares).
5. You always have a reference for ~100F with you at all times (your mouth) so you can always calibrate a thermometer using yourself.
6. In fahrenheit, temperatures that are negative are deadly, not just uncomfortable.

 

[Fourstaff]

1. Nothing wrong with negatives, unless you are completely incompetent (and you are not, hence its fine).
2. Just add decimals and suddenly Celsius is more accurate
3. That is a win for you
4. Enjoy 212F boiling water 100 for boiling and 0 for freezing makes the scale easily replicable, and dividing a line by 180 takes more effort than dividing by 100.
5. you always have 98.2F for average temp and 36.8C, and since that this fluctuates a bit we can call it 100 or 37, and 37 is convenient too if you have that drilled into your skull.
6. So? if you are used to Celsius you know that -20C is starting to get deadly.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

1. They're inconvenient.
2. They're inconvenient.
3. I know.
4. I've never multiplied or divided Fahrenheit, ever. There's no reason to.
5. 37 is prime. 100 is not.
6. -20 is inconvenient.

 

[Fourstaff]

1. They're inconvenient.
2. They're inconvenient.
3. I know.
4. I've never multiplied or divided Fahrenheit, ever. There's no reason to.
5. 37 is prime. 100 is not.
6. -20 is inconvenient.

1. You are not used to them
2. Since that we are usually using whole numbers for weather anyway, moot point.
4. You don't need to? Good luck with differential equations (when you ever meet them).
5. What's wrong with that? 100 is mild fever anyway.
6. Other than in Soviet Russia, you know you will be fine at whatever the temperature is, just a quick glance at the weather forecast and wear the appropriate clothing. Each to its own.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

I vote for Fahrenhheit for more differentiation between temperatures. I live in the Midwest of the USA; we regularly hit above 100F in the summer, and the cross-over point (-40 is the same no matter what your preferrence) during winter.

From a scientific standpoint Celsius makes far more practical sense. Unfortunately I was brought up on Fahrenheit. It makes infinitely more sense to use Fahrenheit where the temperature shifts wildly (read, US). My experience in Europe was that the temperature shifted gradually, and the need for more differentiation is less pressing.

This is all conjecture though. Neither scale is better. I prefer Fahrenheit for daily use, but prefer Celsius for scientific pursuits.

 

[digibucc]

i grew up Fahrenheit and imperial.

i wish i thought in metric naturally, as it simply makes more sense.
i always have to convert, and hate it.

as for Celsius/Fahrenheit ....i don't really care. i'm used to Fahrenheit, buy in my mind
being used to something is no excuse. whichever is more accurate and useful should be
the norm.

i'll leave that debate to you guys, as again, i don't really care.

 

[Deleted member 3]

1. When discussing weather, negatives are uncommon in fahrenheit while it is common in celcius.
2. It is more precice because it has 180 ticks between water freezing and water boiling as opposed to 100.
3. Anything over 100F can be considered a fever in a human (easy number to remember).
4. The temperature at which water boils really isn't important in every day life because, well, water boils when it boils. You don't need a themometer to tell you that (this is why it lands on 212F--no one cares).
5. You always have a reference for ~100F with you at all times (your mouth) so you can always calibrate a thermometer using yourself.
6. In fahrenheit, temperatures that are negative are deadly, not just uncomfortable.

1. And how are negatives not handy?
2. It's not more precise, they're equally precise. Just learn to use decimals if precision is an issue. You'll have to do so anyway in that case. With weather it won't matter, 1C or 1F difference isn't that interesting.
3. And when speaking of temperature fever is the most important thing one would want to know about?
4. Nor is fever, you have to be autistic to care about things being exactly 0 or 100. Normal people can work with other numbers as well, everybody knows 37C is the human temperature. It's not like you're going to do any math with that number anyway.
5. I've never calibrated a thermometer in my life, nor have I owned one that I could even calibrate.
6. Care to give me an example of this being useful in practice?


It all comes down to what you've learned to use in the end.

 

[digibucc]

just as far as number 1, ford must not live in the northern hemisphere. it is often -10f to -20f here, in NY (winters, duh ).

 

[FordGT90Concept]

This is all conjecture though. Neither scale is better. I prefer Fahrenheit for daily use, but prefer Celsius for scientific pursuits.

Same. Celcius is more practical for scientific applications (due to conversion factors) but not climate/cooking/health (the things we deal with daily).

1. And how are negatives not handy?
2. It's not more precise, they're equally precise. Just learn to use decimals if precision is an issue. You'll have to do so anyway in that case. With weather it won't matter, 1C or 1F difference isn't that interesting.
3. And when speaking of temperature fever is the most important thing one would want to know about?
4. Nor is fever, you have to be autistic to care about things being exactly 0 or 100. Normal people can work with other numbers as well, everybody knows 37C is the human temperature. It's not like you're going to do any math with that number anyway.
5. I've never calibrated a thermometer in my life, nor have I owned one that I could even calibrate.
6. Care to give me an example of this being useful in practice?

1. When are they? They become a PITA when calculating differences.
2. Whole numbers, not decimals. Decimals, like negatives, are inconvinent. The only occassion where I've seen decimals used in Fahrenheit is in human thermometers. In order to get the same precision as a Fahrenheit themometer with one decimal point, you'd have to use two decimal points in Celcius.
3. In daily life, yes. 104F+ fever is deadly.
4. It's easy to remember. 37C is not unless you were raised on Celcius. I didn't know that.
5. It can happen. The point is, its harder to get water to boil than stick a probe in your mouth. XD
6. If the temperature is negative, you better not go out unless you got at least a quarter tank of fuel in your car and you better have thermo blankets and other gear in case you get stranded. Failing to could easily mean death.

 

[digibucc]

This is all conjecture though. Neither scale is better. I prefer Fahrenheit for daily use, but prefer Celsius for scientific pursuits.

Same. Celcius is more practical for scientific applications but not climate/cooking/health (the things we deal with daily).

i wish there were an objective better then, as the entire world using different measurements
seems messy imo. i am inclined to use whatever methods scientists use, even if it is outside
of my natural instinct or understanding