Why does the US use Fahrenheit?

[dighn]

Originally posted by: exp

celsius does have an advantage in the scientific world b/c its scale is identitcal to kevin's

The scientific community here in the U.S. has already switched to SI units.

they better have LOL

 

[Babbles]

For the most parts!!!

I think just about all of "us" measure pressure in PSI and not kPa and use BTU (British Thermal Units) instead of, oh crap, forgot the metric term.
Lets see, you also have a radiation dose measured in rems, but the metric term is sieverts, the absorbed amount is rads but metric is gray (gry).

Well that is all I can think of at the moment.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: antiABIT
I am just thankful we did do it.

I mean it sounds so much more drastic, when the weather forcast states "Todays high was a mild 83 and tomorrow will be a blistering 97" than to say "Todays high was a mild 26 and tomorrow will be a blistering 27".

no.....

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: antiABIT
I am just thankful we did do it.

I mean it sounds so much more drastic, when the weather forcast states "Todays high was a mild 83 and tomorrow will be a blistering 97" than to say "Todays high was a mild 26 and tomorrow will be a blistering 27".

that kind of exgerration isn't fair. 14*5/9 =7.8, not 1

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: dighn

Originally posted by: KenGr
Actually, for everyday use Fahrenheit is a more practical and usable system. Even in the scientific world, Celsius is of dubious advantage. Yes, water is common but how often do the freezing and boiling points of water enter into chemical calculations?

Fahrenheit is intuitive. In the Northern Hemisphere temperate climates, 0 is about as low as the air gets and 100 is about as high as it gets. If you've ever noticed, Celsius thermometers and thermostats often have half degree increments while Fahrenheit does not need them. Metric makes sense in weight and length measurement, etc., but isn't really necessary in temperature measurements.

i find celsius infinitely more intuitive than fahrenheit. must be b/c i grew up with it see my point?

celsius does have an advantage in the scientific world b/c its scale is identitcal to kevin's

who's kevin?

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: dighn

Originally posted by: KenGr
Actually, for everyday use Fahrenheit is a more practical and usable system. Even in the scientific world, Celsius is of dubious advantage. Yes, water is common but how often do the freezing and boiling points of water enter into chemical calculations?

Fahrenheit is intuitive. In the Northern Hemisphere temperate climates, 0 is about as low as the air gets and 100 is about as high as it gets. If you've ever noticed, Celsius thermometers and thermostats often have half degree increments while Fahrenheit does not need them. Metric makes sense in weight and length measurement, etc., but isn't really necessary in temperature measurements.

i find celsius infinitely more intuitive than fahrenheit. must be b/c i grew up with it see my point?

celsius does have an advantage in the scientific world b/c its scale is identitcal to kevin's

who's kevin?

i meant "kelvin"

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: sward666
Has anybody ever considered metric time?

gah! doesn't anyone read the posts in the thread anymore?!?! THERE WAS A METRIC SECOND INVENTED BY THE REVOLUTIONARY FRENCH (ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE METRIC SYSTEM). THEY ALSO INVENTED A REVOLUTIONARY CALENDAR AS WELL WITH DIFFERENT NAMES FOR DAYS AND MONTHS

 

[FredFredrickson]

Originally posted by: Radiohead
I totally forgot why & now it's bugging me...

Tried googling & searched here but to no avail.

So yeah, why?

I think the more important question here is...
Who give's a rats @$$?

 

[jaydee]

We should seriously start changing from degrees to radians. WHY is there 360 in a circle?!?!

"Did you see Tony Hawk's 14(pi)/3 jump on ESPN last night?!

 

[her209]

F is easier to write.

 

[Tom]

Fahrenheit is based on body temperature so it is better. EOS

Boiling water is damn hot if you stick you finger in there, so 212 is an good number to represent the burning.

72 is like a gentle breeze caressing your body.

everyone knows 0 is frickin' COLD ! as it should be.

 

[Howard]

Fahrenheit is based on body temperature so it is better. EOS

Boiling water is damn hot if you stick you finger in there, so 212 is an good number to represent the burning.

72 is like a gentle breeze caressing your body.

everyone knows 0 is frickin' COLD ! as it should be.

And how is this based on body temperature?

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Dead Parrot Sketch
Fahrenheit is based on body temperature so it is better. EOS

Boiling water is damn hot if you stick you finger in there, so 212 is an good number to represent the burning.

72 is like a gentle breeze caressing your body.

everyone knows 0 is frickin' COLD ! as it should be.

Prime example of learned behavoir. The number means nothing other than the value we have associated with it over time. If 1000 degrees DPS was boiling then you'd think 500 was cool.

 

[StageLeft]

Because it hasn't matured yet. Freezing point should be at zero. Boiling point should be at 100. Not some stupid ass number.

And there shouldn't be 12 inches in a foot. There should be 100 cm in a meter. 1000 meters in a kilometer, not 52xx feet in a mile. In time the US will embrace the future. Metric is that future!!

 

[Sid59]

i have no idea ho much a kilogram weighs. I can only estimate when people give heights in metres. 95% of the time, i get confused when someone tells me the temperature in Celsius.

At least i got the base10 down.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Because it hasn't matured yet. Freezing point should be at zero. Boiling point should be at 100. Not some stupid ass number.

And there shouldn't be 12 inches in a foot. There should be 100 cm in a meter. 1000 meters in a kilometer, not 52xx feet in a mile. In time the US will embrace the future. Metric is that future!!

one arbitrary number is no better than another.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Because it hasn't matured yet. Freezing point should be at zero. Boiling point should be at 100. Not some stupid ass number.

And there shouldn't be 12 inches in a foot. There should be 100 cm in a meter. 1000 meters in a kilometer, not 52xx feet in a mile. In time the US will embrace the future. Metric is that future!!

Actually, Fahrenheit does have a freezing point at 0, it was based on a saltwater mixture, not on pure water.

ZV

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Because it hasn't matured yet. Freezing point should be at zero. Boiling point should be at 100. Not some stupid ass number.

And there shouldn't be 12 inches in a foot. There should be 100 cm in a meter. 1000 meters in a kilometer, not 52xx feet in a mile. In time the US will embrace the future. Metric is that future!!

one arbitrary number is no better than another.

Well, "arbitrary" numbers based on a consistent base 10 system work better than the screwed up joke of a measuring system that the ancient British gave us (no offense to them, at least their government was smart enough to see their old system for what it is, and now they're using metric).

Yea, so there's 12 inches in a foot. Fine enough. To be consistent (like metric), we'd need 12 feet in a yard, and 12 yards in a mile. If it were that way, at least we'd have some consistency. But still, people only have 10 fingers.

 

[blackhawk]

Its an old system but not conducive for conversions or scientific use so the french invented the metric system when they threw out their monarchy, and from there its spread.

The english now use metric even for their money! The american gallon is unique in the world, 5/6 of an imperial gallon.

I'm in aviation and the different measurements all over the world keep you on your toes. Pressure is reported in metric but western instrumentation is in imperial, inches of mercury, altitudes are in imperial, distances in weather reports in Canada, metric, USA imperial, runway distances all over the western world, in imperial.

In some remote places in the high arctic where Norad had radar sites, fuel was in american gallons, tanks were measured in liters and fuel burn was in pounds per hour.

My country switched to metric about 20 years ago and I work in both but my kids only use metric and my parents only understand imperial. The USA had said they'd switch about the same time but backed down due to resistance to change.