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Never used Fahrenheit in school for anything. I mean you could in theory if you wanted when asked on an exam "what is the boiling point of water?" write somethi

Never used Fahrenheit in school for anything. I mean you could in theory if you wanted when asked on an exam "what is the boiling point of water?" write something other than "100 C". I'm not aware of anyone that did. We certainly never adjusted the thermostat in school, if that is what you are asking. If someone asked me to read the thermostat at home for example, I just told them the numbers on it. It's not like "72 F" is radically different from "72 years old".

whimsicalism 4y ago
What I fail to believe is that you don't have an intuition for 72 F or 30 F, etc. What I can believe, but would be nonetheless very surprised by, is that you have better intuition for 28 C, 25 C than you do for the equivalent Fahrenheit units if you were raised in the US.
- sidewndr46 4y ago
  You're still missing the point. I know 82 F is hotter than 72 F. I know 108 F can give you heat stroke or dehydration depending other conditions. I was never taught that, but I did pick it up. I have no idea how to apply customary units for any real purpose other than "100 F is really hot". If you tell me you need to raise the temperature of a vessel that is 10 foot tall and 4 foot in diameter containing a solution of sodium hydroxide by 40 F I have no idea where to start. How many cubic feet are in a gallon? How many tonnes (of energy...) does it take to raise one gallon of water by 1 F?
  - whimsicalism 4y ago
    Yes, obviously, to your second bit -- nobody would try to do those calculations in imperial/customary units. But most of my usage of units is more of the form "Oh it's 60 degrees out today? Better put on a sweater!" than how "to raise the temperature of a vessel that is 10 foot tall and 4 foot in diameter containing a solution of sodium hydroxide by 40 F." I, along with most replies, took you to be meaning that for the former usage you would use celsius, which surprised me. Nothing is surprising about the fact that for calculation of this sort you use metric.

whimsicalism 4y ago

What I fail to believe is that you don't have an intuition for 72 F or 30 F, etc. What I can believe, but would be nonetheless very surprised by, is that you have better intuition for 28 C, 25 C than you do for the equivalent Fahrenheit units if you were raised in the US.

sidewndr46 4y ago
You're still missing the point. I know 82 F is hotter than 72 F. I know 108 F can give you heat stroke or dehydration depending other conditions. I was never taught that, but I did pick it up. I have no idea how to apply customary units for any real purpose other than "100 F is really hot". If you tell me you need to raise the temperature of a vessel that is 10 foot tall and 4 foot in diameter containing a solution of sodium hydroxide by 40 F I have no idea where to start. How many cubic feet are in a gallon? How many tonnes (of energy...) does it take to raise one gallon of water by 1 F?
- whimsicalism 4y ago
  Yes, obviously, to your second bit -- nobody would try to do those calculations in imperial/customary units. But most of my usage of units is more of the form "Oh it's 60 degrees out today? Better put on a sweater!" than how "to raise the temperature of a vessel that is 10 foot tall and 4 foot in diameter containing a solution of sodium hydroxide by 40 F." I, along with most replies, took you to be meaning that for the former usage you would use celsius, which surprised me. Nothing is surprising about the fact that for calculation of this sort you use metric.