## Fahrenheit Scale vs Celsius Scale

Fahrenheit Scale vs Celsius Scale

## What is the Celsius scale?

The Celsius scale is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who developed a similar temperature scale.

It was originally known as the centigrade scale before being renamed in honor of Anders Celsius in 1948. The name "centigrade" originated from the Latin words centum, which means 100, and gradus, which means steps, because the scale is based on the freezing point of water freezes as 0 °C, and the boiling point of water as 100 °C. This gives a difference of 100 steps between the boiling point and freezing point of water. It is the system used in most of the world due to the fact that it is based on the metric system and uses the temperatures of a common substance, water, as reference points.

### Interesting fact about the Celsius scale

Originally, the values on the Celsius scale (then known as the centigrade scale) were reversed. This means that the boiling point of water was 0 degrees and the freezing point was 100 degrees.

The scale was then reversed in 1743 based on a proposal by Jean-Pierre Christin. The freezing point of water became 0 °C and 100 °C became the boiling point of water.

### Advantages of the Celsius scale

• it is based on the decimal metric system which makes calculations simple.
• its divisions are the same size as on the absolute temperature scale.
• less confusing because it states "Zero as freezing, 100 as boiling."

## What is the Fahrenheit scale?

The Fahrenheit scale is a temperature scale that was created by German scientist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736) in 1724. Few countries in the world, including the U.S. uses the Fahrenheit scale. The lack of popularity of the Fahrenheit scale is because it denotes 32 °F as the freezing point of water and 212 ° F as the boiling point of water. This gives a difference of 180 units between the freezing point and boiling point of water.

The Fahrenheit scale was devised with zero as the freezing point for a mixture of ice and salt water, and the upper limit as the body temperature (approx. 96 °F)

### Advantages of the Fahrenheit Scale

• Ideal for weather reporting because on the Fahrenheit scale 0 is generally a very cold day, 50 mild one and 100 a very hot day. This makes it an ideal "percentage scale" of temperature for weather reporting.
• Fahrenheit scale gives you 1.8 times the precision between whole numbers than the Celsius scale.

## Converting From Celsius to Fahrenheit

To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, first multiply by $latex \frac{9}{5}$, then add 32 to the result.

[°F] = [°C] × $latex \frac{9}{5}$ + 32

## Converting From Fahrenheit to Celsius

To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32, then multiply the result by $latex \frac{9}{5}$

[°C] = ([°F] − 32) × $latex \frac{9}{5}$