Date: 22 Apr 98 12:04:36 CDT From: MOveson@faegre.com To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1346$foo@default> Subject: Farenheit scale
The following confusing thread is growing on the digest:
>>Unfortunately, for some strange reason, in the Fahrenheit scale, water
>>boils at 212degrees but at 100degrees Celsius and freezes at 32degrees F
>>and 0degrees C so there is effectively a 32degree 'offset' on the
>>Fahrenheit scale.
> As far as I know, the difference mentioned above exists only because
>the Celsius scale was based on FRESH water while the Farenheit on SALT water.
I've heard some weird rumors in my time, but this one is particularly
strange.
Salt water has nothing to do with the basis for the Farenheit scale.
Salt
water freezes near 32 degrees Farenheit, lower if there is more salt in
the water, very near 32 if there is just a little salt in the water.
Salt water boils, as far as I know, very near 212 degrees Farenheit no
matter how much salt is in the water, unless you happen to be in the
Himalaya. (If salt water boiled at 100 degrees Farenheit, we'd have to
cook our food before adding any salt!)
Like most non-Metric systems, the Farenheit temperature scale was
developed as a useful unit of measurement to people in their normal,
non-scientific lives. It doesn't translate easily into energy
consumption or correspond to the freezing or boiling point of water.
What it does do is give a nice scale for telling the temperature most of
us are concerned with all the time; that is, the temperature of the air
outside. On a bitter cold day, the lowest temperature you are likely to
experience in a temperate climate is about 0 degrees Farenheit. On an
extremely hot day, the highest temperature you are likely to experience
is about 100 degrees Farenheit. Obviously there are exceptions (North
Dakota comes to mind on the cold end; Arizona on the hot end) but
usually this holds true, and this makes it a useful scale for talking
about the weather. Anything below 0 is awfully cold; anything above 100
is blasted hot.
As far as I know, there is not any more scientific reason for why water
freezes at 32 degrees or boils at 212 degrees Farenheit. It just works out
that way.
Mark Oveson
Faegre & Benson LLP; Denver, Colorado
Phone: (303) 820-0681; Fax: (303) 820-0600
moveson@faegre.com
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