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32 degrees Fahrenheit is at freezing. 0 degrees Celsius.

212 degrees Fahrenheit is at boiling. 100 degrees Celsius.

Why? Here is one response:

Researchers have gone to their graves trying to figure out what old man Fahrenheit was up to, Leslie. Here's the story as well as I can piece it together:

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) was a German instrument maker who invented the first practical Mercury thermometer. Casting about for a suitable scale for his device, he visited the Danish astronomer Ole Romer, who had devised a system of his own.

As it turned out, it was a case of the blind leading the blind.

Romer had decided that the boiling point of water should be 60 degrees. This at least had the strength of numerological tradition behind it (60 minutes in an hour, right?).

But zero was totally arbitrary, the main consideration apparently being that it should be colder than it ever got in Denmark. (Romer didn't like using negative numbers in his weather logbook.)

In addition to the boiling point of water, the landmarks on Romer's scale were the freezing point of water, 7-1/2 degrees, and body temperature, 22-1/2 degrees.

D.G., simple soul that he was, thought this cockeyed system was the soul of elegance. He made one useful change: to get rid of the fractions, he multiplied Romer's degrees by 4, giving him 30 for the freezing point and 90 for body temperature.

Then, for reasons nobody has ever been able to fathom, he multiplied all the numbers by 16/15, making 32 freezing and 96 body temperature. Boiling point for the time being he ignored altogether.

By and by Fahrenheit got ready to present his scale to London's Royal Society, the scientific big leagues of the day.

It dawned on him that it was going to look a little strange having the zero on his scale just sort of hanging off the end, so to speak. So he cooked up the explanation that zero was the temperature of a mix of ice, water, and ammonium chloride.

At some point Fahrenheit figured out that the boiling point of water came in at 212 degrees. Over time this replaced body temp as the upper landmark on his scale. Meanwhile, as more precise measurements were made, body temperature had to be adjusted to 98.6 degrees.

In short, 100 means nothing at all on the Fahrenheit scale, 96 used to mean something but doesn't anymore, and 0 is colder than it ever gets in Denmark. Brilliant.

Lest we get too down on Fahrenheit, though, consider Anders Celsius, who devised the centigrade scale (0 to 100).

Everybody agrees Celsius's scale makes more sense than Fahrenheit's. Trouble is, the original Celsius scale had 100 for freezing, 0 for boiling. In other words, it was upside-down. (The numbers were reversed after Celsius's death.)

These thermometer guys, what gets into them? Must be too much mercury exposure.

OK, you're saying, very interesting. But what I REALLY need is a temperature trivia question that will make me the life of the party.

I have just the thing. At what temperature are the Fahrenheit and Celsius readings the same? People will look at you with newfound respect when you reveal the astonishing answer: minus 40.

- Cecil Adams

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If the thermometer reads thirty degrees Celsius what would the thermometer read in Fahrenheit?

The temperature in Fahrenheit would be 86 degrees. You can convert Celsius to Fahrenheit by multiplying the temperature in Celsius by 1.8 and then adding 32. So, 30 degrees Celsius x 1.8 + 32 = 86 degrees Fahrenheit.


Why does a Fahrenheit thermometer start where it does?

becausde the temperature doesn't usually get that low


If a thermometer reads 73 degrees Fahrenheit what is it in celsius?

Start by subtracting 32 from 73 .Then multiply the answer with 5 and divide by 9. In this case the answer is 22.7 degree celsius .


What is the Celsius temperature when a Fahrenheit thermometer reads 98.6?

37 degrees Celsius. Use this formula to convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius: [°C] = ([°F] − 32) × 5⁄9


What are the units on a Fahrenheit thermometer called?

The units on a Fahrenheit thermometer are called degrees Fahrenheit.


When A nurse has to record her temperatures in Celsius but her thermometer reads Fahrenheit A patients temperature is 100.7 What is the temperature in Celsius?

Start by taking the number in Fahrenheit and subtracting 32. Then divide the number by 9, and then multiply it by 5. This is how you convert Fahrenheit to Celsius or use the equation C = (F - 32) × 5/9In this case, the answer is about 38.167 degrees Celsius.


At what temperature will a Fahrenheit thermometer give a reading that is twice that on the celsius thermometer?

57.6 because F=2C therfore use the equation (1.8xC)+32=2C and solve for C


What is the starting point of the thermometer?

The starting point of a thermometer is typically the lowest end of the temperature scale, which is usually labeled as 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the type of thermometer.


What does a Fahrenheit thermometer measure?

A Fahrenheit thermometer measures temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, which is a scale commonly used in the United States. It is based on the freezing and boiling points of water, where water freezes at 32°F and boils at 212°F.


How do you change celsius to Fahrenheit on PDT300 thermometer?

To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit on the PDT300 thermometer, you can use the following formula: °F = (C × 1.8) + 32 Simply multiply the temperature in Celsius by 1.8 and then add 32 to get the equivalent temperature in Fahrenheit.


A thermometer indicates 30 degrees Celsius what is the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit?

Start by taking the number in Celsius and multiply it by 9. Then divide that number by 5, and then add 32. This is how you convert Celsius to Fahrenheit or use the equation F = (9/5)C + 32In this case, the answer is about 86 degrees Fahrenheit.