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Rankine scale

 
Dictionary: Ran·kine scale   (răng'kĭn) pronunciation
n.
A scale of absolute temperature having the same degree increments as those of the Fahrenheit scale, in which the freezing point of water is 491.69° and the boiling point of water is 671.69°.

[After William John Macquorn Rankine (1820-1872), Scottish engineer and physicist.]


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Dental Dictionary: Rankine scale
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An absolute temperature scale calculated in degrees Fahrenheit. Absolute zero on the Rankine scale is -460° F, equivalent to -273° C.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Rankine temperature scale
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Rankine temperature scale, temperature scale having an absolute zero, below which temperatures do not exist, and using a degree of the same size as that used by the Fahrenheit temperature scale. Absolute zero, or 0°R, is the temperature at which molecular energy is a minimum, and it corresponds to a temperature of −459.67°F. Because the Rankine degree is the same size as the Fahrenheit degree, the freezing point of water (32°F) and the boiling point of water (212°F) correspond to 491.67°R and 671.67°R, respectively. The temperature scale is named after the Scottish engineer and physicist William John Macquorn Rankine, who proposed it in 1859. Another absolute temperature scale, the Kelvin temperature scale, is more commonly used for scientific measurements. See also Celsius temperature scale.


WordNet: Rankine scale
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a scale of absolute temperature in Fahrenheit degrees; the freezing point of water is 491.69 degrees and the boiling point of water is 671.69 degrees


Wikipedia: Rankine
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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rankine" Read more