• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Backwards conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius - anyone emailed Randi yet?

davidhorman

Muse
D
Joined
Oct 11, 2001
Messages
991
Has anyone emailed Randi to point out his error in converting Fahrenheit to Celsius?

Well, I certainly hope so, but that'll be a burden to everyone who's not American, because that [a perfect 78 degrees]'s 172 degrees to all those folks who've been using the Celsius temperature scale
Click to expand...

Ouch. That's well over boiling point! It's actually 25°C, and that's plenty hot enough for me right now.

I'd email him, but I'm sure someone else will have done so.

Edit: Or is he just pointing out that Sylvia forget to specify whether she was using Fahrenheit or Celsius?

David
 
Nah, we're so used to our wacky trans-Atlantic cousins' measurement systems that somewhere in our brains is a little patch that hears an American accent say "78 degrees" and responds with "I have no idea how hot that is."

David
 
davidhorman said:
"I have no idea how hot that is."
Click to expand...
:D

Must admit I had to convert to Celsius ... and then decided it may be perfect for Sylvia but it's a few degrees too warm for this old goat.
 
Must admit I had to convert to Celsius ... and then decided it may be perfect for Sylvia but it's a few degrees too warm for this old goat.
Click to expand...

Think of the Innuits! Won't somebody please think of the Innuits?!

David
 
It depends how old you are I think. To me, 78 degrees is a hot summer's day. Curiously, if it's cold, I think in centigrade.
 
davidhorman, you seem to have worked out the answer to your own question (that line in the Commentary pulled me up, too; it was worded rather carelessly, I thought).
From mummymonkey:
Curiously, if it's cold, I think in centigrade.
Click to expand...
Even more curiously, until I read your post I hadn’t realised that I do the exact same thing! I use °F for one purpose only: to estimate how hot a hot summer’s day is.
 
I think that Randi was pointing out the fact that most countries now use the Celsius scale rather than the Fahrenheit scale still in use in the USA.

Stating a temperature of 78 degrees without specifying the units may mean 78F to Americans, but it could be interpreted as 78C by those who use the Celsius scale.

78C = 172.4F
 
mummymonkey said:
It depends how old you are I think. To me, 78 degrees is a hot summer's day. Curiously, if it's cold, I think in centigrade.
Click to expand...

How odd. How interesting. Why?
 
I think that Randi was pointing out the fact that most countries now use the Celsius scale rather than the Fahrenheit scale still in use in the USA.
Click to expand...

I thought it was a pretty silly criticism. Especially since it overlooked the more obvious point that "perfect" 78 degrees isn't perfect for everything. It would probably be hell for polar bears. Heck, even my boyfriend thinks it's "baking" if the temperature goes over 65. :D

I knew Sylvia was an idiot, but I didn't realize she was *that* big an idiot.
 
Randi's version:

Well, I certainly hope so, but that'll be a burden to everyone who's not American, because that [a perfect 78 degrees]'s 172 degrees to all those folks who've been using the Celsius temperature scale.


Unambiguous version:

Well, I certainly hope so, but that'll be a burden to everyone who's not American, because a perfect 78 degrees to all those folks who've been using the Celsius temperature scale is like 172 degrees in our Fahrenheit scale.


BJ
 
Hot =Fahrenheit, Cold=Celsius

The tendency of people to think of hot temperatures in Fahrenheit, and cold ones in Celsius is not the result of a paranormal collective consciousness (I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear).
It's due to weather presenters in the media being desperate to give a 'gee-whizz' factor to their reporting. Hot days sound even hotter if you use really BIG numbers on the Fahrenheit scale, and cold days sound sooooo much COLDER if you can throw in some minus signs by using the Celsius scale.
:-))
 
Is it perhaps because in Celcius, the freezing point of water is 0°, which is a nice, easily-accessible reference point? In Fahrenheit, it's 32°, which is a number that is just stuck out there with no particular rhyme or reason.
 
I'm pretty sure that the forecasters around these parts only ever use Centigrade, regardless of whether the weather is expected to be hot or cold. The same applies to my family, friends and acquaintances. Fahrenheit is never used.

BJ
 
C = F minus 32, add 11%, halved.
F = C doubled, less 10%, add 32.
 
Rob Lister said:
How odd. How interesting. Why?
Click to expand...

Dunno about anyone else, but as an American, I also think of "freezing" as "zero" and not 32 degrees F. I find that centigrade is very intuitive for the freezing point of water, but not as intuitive for the boiling point of water.

Why?

Probably because water freezing is a natural annual occurance that represents fun and/or danger, while boiling water is usually artificial and represents either a cup of tea or pasta for dinner. :)
 
jmercer said:
Dunno about anyone else, but as an American, I also think of "freezing" as "zero" and not 32 degrees F. I find that centigrade is very intuitive for the freezing point of water, but not as intuitive for the boiling point of water.

Why?

Probably because water freezing is a natural annual occurance that represents fun and/or danger, while boiling water is usually artificial and represents either a cup of tea or pasta for dinner. :)
Click to expand...
But both of these are 100% good, hence 100C!

get it? get it? ;)





*sigh*
 
From ReFLeX:
No, no, it's much simpler than that:
http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de/chemistry/general/tscales_en.html
Click to expand...
It’s even simpler than that: add 40, multiply by 9/5 or 5/9 depending which way you’re going, subtract 40 (then you don’t have to remember what to do with the 32).
From jmercer:
Dunno about anyone else, but as an American, I also think of "freezing" as "zero" and not 32 degrees F. I find that centigrade is very intuitive for the freezing point of water, but not as intuitive for the boiling point of water.

Why?

Probably because water freezing is a natural annual occurance that represents fun and/or danger, while boiling water is usually artificial and represents either a cup of tea or pasta for dinner. :)
Click to expand...
In the UK you’d have to be seriously old to have used °F in science lessons. So anyone here would think of both freezing and boiling points of water in °C (I doubt most people would know the values in °F). Until fairly recently °F was used for everyday purposes such as weather forecasts, so some of us still think partly in it. But not for temperatures around freezing, as 0°C is firmly entrenched.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom