7 ms·

45 Fahrenheit = 7.2 Celsius -130 Fahrenheit = -90 Celsius

by 1023bytes 6y ago

tempodox 6y ago
Why is NASA using those antiquated imperial units in the first place? I thought they'd want to be a force for progress?
- Symbiote 6y ago
  It's embarrassing that they don't provide a metric conversion, and also omit the ° sign. (PS America uses "US customary" or "English" units. Imperial units means the ones after standardization across the British Empire in 1824, which by then did not include the USA.)
  - grishka 6y ago
    It's embarrassing that they aren't pushing to switch the US to the metric system.
    - mattowen_uk 6y ago
      I believe it's been tried before, and failed.
    - User23 6y ago
      The US did switch to the metric system over 45 years ago[1]. Many of us just prefer the customary units for many everyday uses for various reasons. For example, I find degrees Fahrenheit a more sensible choice for representing outdoor temperatures since the degree increments are slightly smaller and the typical outdoor temperature nearly always falls in the positive range. For Celsius, the triple point of water zero is a great reference for lab work, it doesn’t have any particular relevance to deciding what to wear. A base 12 distance unit also has some pleasant properties. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_Conversion_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_Conversion_Act
      - short_sells_poo 6y ago
        > Celsius, the triple point of water zero is a great reference for lab work, it doesn’t have any particular relevance to deciding what to wear. Uh let me do some primary school math for you: >30 Degrees Celsius: hot/summer weather. 20 Degrees Celsius: warm spring, t-shirt weather. 10 Degrees Celsius: light jacket. 0 Degrees Celsius: literally freezing. Winter clothing. -15 Degrees Celsius: requires heavy & layered clothing to avoid hypothermia and/or frostbite. -30 Degrees Celsius: arctic gear. Look, the turning point between light clothing and winter clothing is literally built into the system: 0 degrees is the triple point of water as you said so yourself. There are many arguments why the US hasn't seen a wide-scale adoption of metric temperature, but I'd posit that "objective ease of use" isn't it. You lot are just used to a legacy system with all it's warts and it's more convenient to go with the joneses than try to force change. I think trying to advance arguments how it's more convenient is a fools errand because it's literally just force of habit. I can promise you that the various feet, inches, fluid ounces and other shenanigans are mind-bogglingly confusing for anyone who is used to metric. Doubly so given the very annoying ratios that emerge with square/cubic/volume units.
        lebuffon 6y ago
        During Canada's transition to metric in the 1970's a lady called into the local radio station's call in program. She issued a challenge to anyone who supported the English system to call with the answer to this question: What is 5/8ths of 2 ounces, 4 drams and 5 grains? :-) She was an immigrant from Czechia and had to learn the British Apothecary system when she arrived in the 1950s. To her credit she had mastered it but it was lunacy.
        User23 6y ago
        1 1/4ths ounce, 2 1/2 drams and 3 1/8th grains is what I came up with off the top of my head. Is some additional normalization expected? US customary isn’t as complex in practical use we just use fractions of our units. Of course there are fun questions like “which ounce?” Not knowing that I don’t think I can do better.
- yellowapple 6y ago
  Behind the scenes, they're very likely using metric. For press releases and such, however, it's worth remembering that the primary audience is the American public, and said public - for better or worse - uses those antiquated units.
  - chrononaut 6y ago
    In addition, when other partners / contractors have failed to use metric when expected, it has caused some grave mission failures! > The spacecraft encountered Mars on a trajectory that brought it too close to the planet, and it was either destroyed in the atmosphere or escaped the planet's vicinity and entered an orbit around the sun.[2] An investigation attributed the failure to a measurement mismatch between two software systems: metric units by NASA and non-metric ("English") units by spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_...
  - aerothrowaway 6y ago
    >Behind the scenes, they're very likely using metric. This isn't true at all, lol. Aerospace in the US has used 'english' measurement from the start. My take on the matter is that all units are arbitrarily defined and flip flopping the units that we already use is a silly idea of progress.
    - jvanderbot 6y ago
      Someone has to flip flop when nations come together to build stuff.
    - marsokod 6y ago
      While on the temperature side, I would agree with you (though ideally you would want something that starts at 0 like Kelvin), this is different on the distance and weigh side. The strength of the metric system is not on the particular dimension of their definition, but lies in the use of a decimal system. That is what makes it superior to the old imperial system and why the scientific community in the US uses it. Using a single base system for all your numbers, and the same base system as the one used in your numbering systems is the only way you can do complex computations without resorting to many magic numbers.
- PedroBatista 6y ago
  They’re also a government agency under political influences like any other and at the end of the day someone had to make the call on how to communicate with the “plebs”. So Fahrenheit it is.
- both_cucumbers 6y ago
  In the United States we are capable of understanding more than one system of measurement and using the appropriate one for the current situation.
  - 1_player 6y ago
    Are you really? I hear people ask for C to F conversion as much as the other way around.
    - short_sells_poo 6y ago
      Not to mention the multiple outright disasters that happened exactly because they don't have a good handle on using the appropriate units...
    - michaericalribo 6y ago
      Yes, it’s not hard...I use the reversed digits method: 82F ≈ 28C 61F ≈ 16C 40F ≈ 04C 11F ≈ -11C
      - bserge 6y ago
        First time I hear about it, noticed the accuracy drops off significantly if the last number is >1? 51F ~ 15C 52F ~ 25C 59F ~ 95C? Subtract 30, divide by 2 works well enough heh
        michaericalribo 6y ago
        Ha! 59F is a good one :D Yeah, I should have clarified—this works for those specific combinations...it’s mostly a back of the envelope way to orient yourself in the other system.
        nobody9999 6y ago
        >Subtract 30, divide by 2 works well enough heh That's close enough for most purposes, but (F)5/9-32=(C) provides better precision.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
bluenose69 6y ago
Thanks for this. Why NASA doesn't give the conversions in parentheses is beyond me. Surely they know that people around the world use another system, and that even in the USA, many people consulting the website have an interest in science and therefore know about the SI system. (Or am I wrong on the latter ... are degF, inches, pounds, etc used in science teaching in the USA?)
- fctorial 6y ago
  Or use kelvins
- veilrap 6y ago
  In early Science teaching in the USA, say K-8 Fahrenheit is probably the focus. Starting in High school its more of a mix of F/C/K, and once at the college / university level it'll be pretty much exclusively C/K for science. For a general consumption science article targeting an American audience it makes sense that Fahrenheit is used, because American's are used to it and its convenient for human temperatures. (More precision per degree, 0-100 is a common temperature range, mostly human comfortable). Of course clearly including Celcius alongside Fahrenheit would make a lot of sense, I agree its strange that both were not included.
  - elliottkember 6y ago
    > targeting an American audience What led you to believe this was targeting an American audience? Do you think kids in other countries don’t know about space, or aren’t interested?
    - stult 6y ago
      I mean, NASA is an American government agency paid for with American tax dollars...
  - atleta 6y ago
    FWIW, Celsius is just as convenient for human temperatures (whether we're talking about the temperature of the human body or temperatures that humans can experience). The difference in resolution (about 2x good for F) doesn't really matter. Trust me, we rarely use decimals with C, except for when we measure body temperature (which is in a few C/F range anyway). Other than that it's just remembering the important values (freezing and boiling point of water, normal body temp, and maybe a few others that you can associate with how much dress you'll need if you go outside). It's all about what you're used to, really.
kgeist 6y ago
In comparison, Russia's (and world's) coldest permanently inhabitated town Oymyakon has a record of -71 Celsius. It's cold, but survivable.
- mrbald85 6y ago
  But your peepee shrinks to planck length

45 Fahrenheit = 7.2 Celsius -130 Fahrenheit = -90 Celsius

tempodox 6y ago

Why is NASA using those antiquated imperial units in the first place? I thought they'd want to be a force for progress?

Symbiote 6y ago
It's embarrassing that they don't provide a metric conversion, and also omit the ° sign. (PS America uses "US customary" or "English" units. Imperial units means the ones after standardization across the British Empire in 1824, which by then did not include the USA.)
- grishka 6y ago
  It's embarrassing that they aren't pushing to switch the US to the metric system.
  - mattowen_uk 6y ago
    I believe it's been tried before, and failed.
  - User23 6y ago
    The US did switch to the metric system over 45 years ago[1]. Many of us just prefer the customary units for many everyday uses for various reasons. For example, I find degrees Fahrenheit a more sensible choice for representing outdoor temperatures since the degree increments are slightly smaller and the typical outdoor temperature nearly always falls in the positive range. For Celsius, the triple point of water zero is a great reference for lab work, it doesn’t have any particular relevance to deciding what to wear. A base 12 distance unit also has some pleasant properties. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_Conversion_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_Conversion_Act
    - short_sells_poo 6y ago
      > Celsius, the triple point of water zero is a great reference for lab work, it doesn’t have any particular relevance to deciding what to wear. Uh let me do some primary school math for you: >30 Degrees Celsius: hot/summer weather. 20 Degrees Celsius: warm spring, t-shirt weather. 10 Degrees Celsius: light jacket. 0 Degrees Celsius: literally freezing. Winter clothing. -15 Degrees Celsius: requires heavy & layered clothing to avoid hypothermia and/or frostbite. -30 Degrees Celsius: arctic gear. Look, the turning point between light clothing and winter clothing is literally built into the system: 0 degrees is the triple point of water as you said so yourself. There are many arguments why the US hasn't seen a wide-scale adoption of metric temperature, but I'd posit that "objective ease of use" isn't it. You lot are just used to a legacy system with all it's warts and it's more convenient to go with the joneses than try to force change. I think trying to advance arguments how it's more convenient is a fools errand because it's literally just force of habit. I can promise you that the various feet, inches, fluid ounces and other shenanigans are mind-bogglingly confusing for anyone who is used to metric. Doubly so given the very annoying ratios that emerge with square/cubic/volume units.
      - lebuffon 6y ago
        During Canada's transition to metric in the 1970's a lady called into the local radio station's call in program. She issued a challenge to anyone who supported the English system to call with the answer to this question: What is 5/8ths of 2 ounces, 4 drams and 5 grains? :-) She was an immigrant from Czechia and had to learn the British Apothecary system when she arrived in the 1950s. To her credit she had mastered it but it was lunacy.
        User23 6y ago
        1 1/4ths ounce, 2 1/2 drams and 3 1/8th grains is what I came up with off the top of my head. Is some additional normalization expected? US customary isn’t as complex in practical use we just use fractions of our units. Of course there are fun questions like “which ounce?” Not knowing that I don’t think I can do better.
yellowapple 6y ago
Behind the scenes, they're very likely using metric. For press releases and such, however, it's worth remembering that the primary audience is the American public, and said public - for better or worse - uses those antiquated units.
- chrononaut 6y ago
  In addition, when other partners / contractors have failed to use metric when expected, it has caused some grave mission failures! > The spacecraft encountered Mars on a trajectory that brought it too close to the planet, and it was either destroyed in the atmosphere or escaped the planet's vicinity and entered an orbit around the sun.[2] An investigation attributed the failure to a measurement mismatch between two software systems: metric units by NASA and non-metric ("English") units by spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_...
- aerothrowaway 6y ago
  >Behind the scenes, they're very likely using metric. This isn't true at all, lol. Aerospace in the US has used 'english' measurement from the start. My take on the matter is that all units are arbitrarily defined and flip flopping the units that we already use is a silly idea of progress.
  - jvanderbot 6y ago
    Someone has to flip flop when nations come together to build stuff.
  - marsokod 6y ago
    While on the temperature side, I would agree with you (though ideally you would want something that starts at 0 like Kelvin), this is different on the distance and weigh side. The strength of the metric system is not on the particular dimension of their definition, but lies in the use of a decimal system. That is what makes it superior to the old imperial system and why the scientific community in the US uses it. Using a single base system for all your numbers, and the same base system as the one used in your numbering systems is the only way you can do complex computations without resorting to many magic numbers.
PedroBatista 6y ago
They’re also a government agency under political influences like any other and at the end of the day someone had to make the call on how to communicate with the “plebs”. So Fahrenheit it is.
both_cucumbers 6y ago
In the United States we are capable of understanding more than one system of measurement and using the appropriate one for the current situation.
- 1_player 6y ago
  Are you really? I hear people ask for C to F conversion as much as the other way around.
  - short_sells_poo 6y ago
    Not to mention the multiple outright disasters that happened exactly because they don't have a good handle on using the appropriate units...
  - michaericalribo 6y ago
    Yes, it’s not hard...I use the reversed digits method: 82F ≈ 28C 61F ≈ 16C 40F ≈ 04C 11F ≈ -11C
    - bserge 6y ago
      First time I hear about it, noticed the accuracy drops off significantly if the last number is >1? 51F ~ 15C 52F ~ 25C 59F ~ 95C? Subtract 30, divide by 2 works well enough heh
      - michaericalribo 6y ago
        Ha! 59F is a good one :D Yeah, I should have clarified—this works for those specific combinations...it’s mostly a back of the envelope way to orient yourself in the other system.
      - nobody9999 6y ago
        >Subtract 30, divide by 2 works well enough heh That's close enough for most purposes, but (F)5/9-32=(C) provides better precision.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

bluenose69 6y ago

Thanks for this. Why NASA doesn't give the conversions in parentheses is beyond me. Surely they know that people around the world use another system, and that even in the USA, many people consulting the website have an interest in science and therefore know about the SI system. (Or am I wrong on the latter ... are degF, inches, pounds, etc used in science teaching in the USA?)

fctorial 6y ago
Or use kelvins
veilrap 6y ago
In early Science teaching in the USA, say K-8 Fahrenheit is probably the focus. Starting in High school its more of a mix of F/C/K, and once at the college / university level it'll be pretty much exclusively C/K for science. For a general consumption science article targeting an American audience it makes sense that Fahrenheit is used, because American's are used to it and its convenient for human temperatures. (More precision per degree, 0-100 is a common temperature range, mostly human comfortable). Of course clearly including Celcius alongside Fahrenheit would make a lot of sense, I agree its strange that both were not included.
- elliottkember 6y ago
  > targeting an American audience What led you to believe this was targeting an American audience? Do you think kids in other countries don’t know about space, or aren’t interested?
  - stult 6y ago
    I mean, NASA is an American government agency paid for with American tax dollars...
- atleta 6y ago
  FWIW, Celsius is just as convenient for human temperatures (whether we're talking about the temperature of the human body or temperatures that humans can experience). The difference in resolution (about 2x good for F) doesn't really matter. Trust me, we rarely use decimals with C, except for when we measure body temperature (which is in a few C/F range anyway). Other than that it's just remembering the important values (freezing and boiling point of water, normal body temp, and maybe a few others that you can associate with how much dress you'll need if you go outside). It's all about what you're used to, really.

kgeist 6y ago

In comparison, Russia's (and world's) coldest permanently inhabitated town Oymyakon has a record of -71 Celsius. It's cold, but survivable.

mrbald85 6y ago
But your peepee shrinks to planck length