Re:Death by Inches: The battle over the metric system in Ame...
by BlackAura on Saturday August 09, 2014 @09:18PM
(#8158531)
Except...
Freezing point of water: 32°F
Average human body temperature (oral): 98.2°F
So that's 66.2°F, not 64°F.
Those two temperatures were the original reference points for the Fahrenheit scale, and body temperature was defined as 96°.
The current definition is relative to the melting point of ice (32°F), and the boiling point of water at standard atmospheric pressure (212°F, which is exactly 180°F higher than the freezing point). Except now body temperature is 98.2°F instead of 96°.
If you want a thermometer calibrated in Fahrenheit, you have exactly the same problem as you do with Celsius. You just have to put 178 markings between the two reference points, rather than 98.
Freezing point of water: 32°F Average human body temperature (oral): 98.2°F
So that's 66.2°F, not 64°F.
Those two temperatures were the original reference points for the Fahrenheit scale, and body temperature was defined as 96°.
The current definition is relative to the melting point of ice (32°F), and the boiling point of water at standard atmospheric pressure (212°F, which is exactly 180°F higher than the freezing point). Except now body temperature is 98.2°F instead of 96°.
If you want a thermometer calibrated in Fahrenheit, you have exactly the same problem as you do with Celsius. You just have to put 178 markings between the two reference points, rather than 98.