this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
595 points (76.5% liked)

Science Memes

11148 readers
3252 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.

Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
595
temperature (mander.xyz)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
420 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I think the focus of this is just where the origins of the units are derived. Fahrenheit was invented at a hospital for identifying patients outside of the normal range, Celsius was invented based on the liquid range of water, and Kelvin was invented based on when matter stops

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

Fahrenheit was invented at a hospital for identifying patients outside of the normal range...

0°F is outside the normal human temperature range? No shit!

You're talking a bunch of bullcrap! Fahrenheit was developed by a German Scientist and he just chose two measurements that were halfway decent to reproduce. That's all there is to it. Got nothing to do with hospitals.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

The focus of it is what you are used to.
All scales are basically created equal - they must be, since they measure the same thing and scale the same way. (No pun intended.)
The only difference there can ever be between C/K/F (or R for that matter) is multiplying by one constant and/or adding another.

Yanks use Fahrenheit, grow up with it, and see it used every day. Therefore it is intuitive and logical. To them.
The vast majority of people on Earth - about 95% - actually don't, so it isn't.

That makes the phrasing and underlying assumption pretty characteristically American, and tempting to poke some gentle fun at.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Except it was calibrated on someone who was running a fever, so it fails at even that.