Have you ever wondered about the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit? These two temperature scales are used worldwide, but understanding how they relate to each other can be confusing. While Fahrenheit is commonly used in the United States, Celsius is the standard in most other countries and in the scientific community. Let’s delve into the history and development of these scales to clarify “Celsius Is What Fahrenheit” and understand temperature measurement better.
The Origins of Temperature Measurement
The quest to measure temperature accurately dates back centuries. Early scientists and inventors experimented with various substances and methods to quantify hotness and coldness. Before standardized scales, comparing temperatures was subjective and inconsistent. The 18th century marked a significant period in the development of thermometry, with two prominent scientists, Daniel Fahrenheit and Anders Celsius, creating the scales we still use today.
Daniel Fahrenheit and His Scale
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, born in 1686 in Poland and later residing in Amsterdam, was a meticulous scientific instrument maker. Orphaned at a young age, he initially pursued business but was drawn to the world of scientific instruments. His travels across Europe brought him into contact with notable scientists, including the Danish astronomer Ole Rømer in Copenhagen.
Rømer had developed a thermometer using wine and established reference points, though Fahrenheit found them somewhat cumbersome. Inspired by Rømer’s work, Fahrenheit refined the design, opting for mercury as the thermometric liquid due to its more consistent expansion and contraction. He also aimed for a scale with more convenient divisions, moving away from fractions.
Fahrenheit established his scale using three fixed points. Zero degrees Fahrenheit was defined by the temperature of a mixture of ice, water, and salt. Removing salt, he found a second fixed point at “thirty-two degrees” when water and ice stabilized. His third point, “ninety-six degrees,” was based on “the thermometer held in the mouth or under the armpit of a living man in good health,” approximating human body temperature.
Alt text: Comparison of Fahrenheit and Celsius thermometer scales showing freezing and boiling points of water and normal body temperature.
After Fahrenheit’s death in 1736, scientists recalibrated his scale, using the boiling point of water as a more universally consistent upper fixed point. This was set at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, while the freezing point of water remained at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Normal human body temperature on this revised Fahrenheit scale registered at 98.6 degrees, slightly different from Fahrenheit’s original 96 degrees. This modified Fahrenheit scale is primarily used in the United States today.
Anders Celsius and the Centigrade Scale
Anders Celsius, born in Uppsala, Sweden in 1701, was an astronomer and physicist. While he made significant contributions to astronomy, including observations of the aurora borealis, his name is most famously associated with the Celsius temperature scale.
Celsius also sought to create a universal temperature scale based on fixed points of water. In his paper “Observations on two persistent degrees on a thermometer,” published in 1742, he described his centigrade scale. Intriguingly, Celsius initially defined 0 degrees as the boiling point of water and 100 degrees as the freezing point.
Alt text: Portrait of Anders Celsius, the Swedish astronomer and physicist who developed the centigrade temperature scale.
This inverted scale was not immediately intuitive. After Celsius’s death in 1744, it was reversed to the scale we know today as Celsius, or centigrade. In this modern Celsius scale, 0 degrees represents the freezing point of water at standard atmospheric pressure, and 100 degrees represents the boiling point.
The simplicity and decimal nature of the Celsius scale facilitated its adoption across Sweden, France, and eventually, most of the world. In 1948, the Ninth General Conference of Weights and Measures officially designated “degrees centigrade” as “degrees Celsius” in honor of Anders Celsius.
Celsius vs. Fahrenheit: Key Differences
The fundamental difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit lies in their reference points. Fahrenheit uses 32°F for the freezing point of water and 212°F for the boiling point, creating a 180-degree interval. Celsius, on the other hand, sets 0°C as the freezing point and 100°C as the boiling point of water, a 100-degree interval.
This difference in scaling means that a degree Celsius represents a larger temperature change than a degree Fahrenheit. To understand “celsius is what fahrenheit,” it’s essential to recognize that these scales are measuring the same phenomenon—temperature—but using different units and starting points. While converting between the two requires a formula, conceptually, Celsius and Fahrenheit are simply two different ways of quantifying temperature, each with its historical and practical context.
