Topic: Episode #349

[Steven Novella]

Tell me, for everyday use, what is the advantage of Celsius? It's a linear scale, just like Fahrenheit, and the whole base 10 thing does not apply.

There are two relevant factors - being fixed to a physical property, and the range of typical use. Celsius has a slight advantage in that freezing is zero, but this is no big deal, By the time Amercans are 5 years old they know that water freezes at 32 degrees. The fact that in Celsius water boils at 100 degrees matters not at all in everyday use. There is no inherent advantage to that - it does not make Celsius easier to work with. And it is ultimately arbitrary.

The range of typical use is much better for Fahrenheit than for Celsius. The origin of Fahrenheit is irrelevant to this fact.

[Jay_One]

I am awful at every estimation imaginable. Distances, speeds, timing, temperatures, you name it. I've been brought up with the celcius scale and miles per hour, but I don't know how much of my shortcomings is due to this and how much is just personal inability. 

[amysrevenge]

Tell me, for everyday use, what is the advantage of Celsius?

Almost none.  I'm a fairly strong supporter of metrification, but for everyday use by adults, there are few tangible advantages for any of it, temperature least of all.  Once you already know how many fathoms are in a hogshead or whatever, it quickly stops mattering.

[Shadow Of A Doubt]

Tell me, for everyday use, what is the advantage of Celsius? It's a linear scale, just like Fahrenheit, and the whole base 10 thing does not apply.

Well, the one big advantage of Celsius is that 1 degree C = 1K. So it's easy to go back and forth between them, and not to get a  when temperatures in science reports are quoted in Kelvin.

Also, for everyday purposes like weather reports or the temperature of a bath or swimming pool, you rarely need to be more accurate than a few degrees C, so I don't really feel at a disadvantage compared to Fahrenheit users in this regard.

[Dileas]

Tell me, for everyday use, what is the advantage of Celsius? It's a linear scale, just like Fahrenheit, and the whole base 10 thing does not apply.

I just find it more intuitive.  Zero is the freezing point of water, so if it goes below that I know not to leave pop cans in my car   100 is the boiling point of water, which doesn't tell me much unless I'm trying to boil water, but is easy to remember.  Halfway in between is about Summer time in the middle east.  A quarter is a comfortable summer temperature at home.  The same kind of estimations work on the negative side for us northerners; -50 is about how cold it gets in the farthest parts, -25 is a chill winter day in most of the rest (I'm including windchill in those numbers).  Fahrenheit, on the other hand, makes no intuitive sense to me whatsoever.  The numbers are arbitrary in both systems, but Celsius seems much easier to remember and use.

[Belgarath]

Tell me, for everyday use, what is the advantage of Celsius? It's a linear scale, just like Fahrenheit, and the whole base 10 thing does not apply.

I just find it more intuitive.  Zero is the freezing point of water, so if it goes below that I know not to leave pop cans in my car   100 is the boiling point of water, which doesn't tell me much unless I'm trying to boil water, but is easy to remember.  Halfway in between is about Summer time in the middle east.  A quarter is a comfortable summer temperature at home.  The same kind of estimations work on the negative side for us northerners; -50 is about how cold it gets in the farthest parts, -25 is a chill winter day in most of the rest (I'm including windchill in those numbers).  Fahrenheit, on the other hand, makes no intuitive sense to me whatsoever.  The numbers are arbitrary in both systems, but Celsius seems much easier to remember and use.

That's likely because you've used Celsius for a long time.  For me the natural freezing point of water is 32 and it boils at 212.  Zero is where salt water freezes.  If I hear it's 23 outside, I'm getting a coat out, not putting on short sleeves.  It's sort of collective inertia

[Jay_One]

Because both scales are arbitrarily designated (right?), the intuitiveness of the numbers used are surely only based on familiarity and frequency of use?

[Anders]

Tell me, for everyday use, what is the advantage of Celsius? It's a linear scale, just like Fahrenheit, and the whole base 10 thing does not apply.

The main advantage? I'm familiar with it.

[MikeHz]

Millions of people around the world brought up to it seem to have not difficulty relating to the Celsius scale. I have to relearn it every time I visit Canada. On my last trip a couple months ago I had the following conversation (verbatim from my journal) showing how it is also difficult for those familiar with the metric scale to relate to ours:

I'm in a hot tub and I comment that it's not very warm. “Oh, it’s fairly hot,” says the woman to my left.

“It’s supposed to be 103,” I reply. “That’s the same temperature as our hot tub at home, and believe me, this is nowhere near that hot.” The blank stares around me leave me confused for a moment before I realize everyone else in the pool is trying to convert what 103 relates to in Celsius.
 
“I think he means 38 degrees,” says the woman to the puzzled faces around the spa.
 
“I guess you’ve figured out that I’m not from around here,” I say.

“Yeah,” she says. “Every time I visit the States, I have to relearn the measuring systems. But, somehow I always forget it again when I get home.”

[Steven Novella]

obviously familiarity trumps all, you can get used to almost anything.

My point is - unlike other metric systems that are base 10, there is no real advantage to Celsius. And I like the range of Fahreneheit - it is more useful for everyday use.

[seaotter]

For you.

I think we need a compromise. A unit that is half of a celsius degree, starts at freezing point of water at zero so 100 would be what a hundred and six farienheit

[GodSlayer]

In Celcius the temperature range that humans typically live in is about -10 to 30 degrees. For Fahrenheit the typical temperature range that humans live in is 0-100. This is a much more comfortable and intuitive range. I have a good sense of each tens of temperature. I know what the 40s feel like compared to the 50s or the 60s.

[edit: ignore post, already been responded to]

how is this any different to saying 'rabbit' (Eng) is more intuitive than 'kani' (Fin) or 'lapin' (Fre)?

...I'm sure that's true for you, but while that may be an argument against change you'd have to adapt to, it's hardly an argument for the superiority claimed.

[GodSlayer]

Tell me, for everyday use, what is the advantage of Celsius? It's a linear scale, just like Fahrenheit, and the whole base 10 thing does not apply.

Well, the one big advantage of Celsius is that 1 degree C = 1K. So it's easy to go back and forth between them, and not to get a  when temperatures in science reports are quoted in Kelvin.

wouldn't a person who learns science be able to pretty easily learn celsius, just as you learn K, if they, unlike other Americans, found it helpful to know?

Also, for everyday purposes like weather reports or the temperature of a bath or swimming pool, you rarely need to be more accurate than a few degrees C, so I don't really feel at a disadvantage compared to Fahrenheit users in this regard.

good point.
don't think I've ever seen a decimal point in any weather report.

[GodSlayer]

My point is - unlike other metric systems that are base 10, there is no real advantage to Celsius.

it is a good point.
...had never thought of picking and choosing from our measurements before. (was always 'us vs them')

And I like the range of Fahreneheit - it is more useful for everyday use.

uses like what?
and in what way is it more useful (presumably the 'rounding' of numbers is more inconsequential...but who ever said we need to round beyond a decimal place? ...I'm pretty sure I'd be happy to say '20.5' instead of '20' or '21' if I needed to be as exact as '69F', but I can't think of where I'd ever need to.

[Caffiene]

For me the natural freezing point of water is 32 and it boils at 212. Zero is where salt water freezes.

Salt water freezes at different temperatures depending on the amount of salt. A quick google says it can freeze at anywhere between 32^oF (zero salt) and -6^oF (maximum salt saturation), and seawater freezes at about 27 or 28^oF.