3 ms·
"we don't need more units!" Yes, some units are useful for particular interests. Create them as they're needed and useful. Base-10 time would make more sense.
by ctdonath 13y ago
"we don't need more units!"
Yes, some units are useful for particular interests. Create them as they're needed and useful. Base-10 time would make more sense. Celsius at least coordinates notable values with common materials.
Some units are just stupid. The lead article gives an unsatisfactory explanation of base-12/60 time (admitting near the end the reason for base-60 is unknown); trying to explain clocks to toddlers is proving annoying (I can't explain it if it doesn't make sense, and it doesn't make sense). Fahrenheit is just an arbitrary marking on a scale and seeing how reality happened to line up.
http://xkcd.com/927/ http://xkcd.com/927/
- dragontamer 13y agoFahrenheit was supposed to be 0 degrees for freezing, and 100 for body temperature. It turns out that Fahrenheit's reference thermometer was a bit... off... however.
- pyre 13y agoHow did it manage to be off by 32 (!) for freezing, but fairly close for body temperature? I would expect a constant (or at least same ballpark) error. I imagine it had something to do with the medium used for the thermometer?
- stephenhuey 13y agoHe was trying to find a salt mixture that went through a phase change at 0 degrees: http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/solutions/faq/zero-fahrenheit.shtml http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/solutions/faq/z... That wasn't so reliable, and neither was using 100 for human body temperature, so when he discovered that water boiled at 212 he began calibrating with that.
- MarkPNeyer 13y ago0 was the coldest temperature he could reliably reproduce - which is salt water just above the freezing point.
- gumby 13y agoInterestingly, Fahrenheit has 180 (212-32) degrees between freezing and boiling. Zero is set to a brine solution -- a reproducible metric about as cold as you could make. So it's not an insane system.