Yes, but if you have to convert from Fahrenheit to another scale anyways, why in the hell would you not just go straight to Kelvin?!
Comment on xkcd #3001: Temperature Scales
SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz 1 day ago
I am very surprised that Rankine gets such a high cursedness score. Isn’t it just the same as Kelvin but based on Fahrenheit instead of Celsius?
I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz 11 hours ago
Converting between Kelvin and Celsius is simple addition; converting between Rankine and Fahrenheit is simple addition. Converting between the two groups requires multiplication, and pre calculator, that’s notably harder.
Also, all your kJ/kg/°C or BTU/lb/°F tables and factors are identical when you swap to referencing absolute zero. If you change to the other unit system, all that goes out the window.
Raptorox@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Fahrenheit stacks I guess
jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
Because it implies you are using US Costumary/Imperial units for science or “fancy” engineering.
Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 23 hours ago
Yeah, well that’s a cultural thing really. Celcius and fahrenheit scales are both quite arbitrary. The kelvin scale uses absolute zero, which totally makes sense, but the other fixed point is pretty arbitrary when you think of it. The fahrenheit scale makes sense for the human experience of weather, while the celcius scale makes sense for generally life on Earth where water plays an important role. Neither of them are particularly universal.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 11 hours ago
Wat. Yanks keep saying this but… wat
Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 40 minutes ago
It’s only fair to give credit when credit is due. Doesn’t mean I like that unit, but I can see where they’re coming from.
thepreciousboar@lemm.ee 23 hours ago
Technically they arr arbitrary yes, but sometimes some arbitrary makes more sense than others. Why is fahrenheit 0 at -32°C? Accordinfmg to wikipedia he chose 0°F as the melting point of water and ammonium chloride (what percentage of solution?) and the highest was initially “the average of the hottest temperature of a healthy man”. Do you see why this feels more arbitrady then " the melting and boiling point of water at 101.300 Pa"? Not only these points are constant and measurable, but water is such ubiqutous in human life that it feels at least less arbitrary as a reference point.
Historically, it was ok. Now it just doesn’t make much sense, sincd we tried (and mostly succeded) to standardize measurements units for centuries (and make them all base 10)
Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 22 hours ago
I don’t really use the Fahrenheit scale for anything, but when I bump into it, I prefer to think of those values as: 0°F is a cold winter and 100°F is a hot summer weather. Makes sense for the human experience, which makes it a very practical unit. The original definition was more technical than that, but it was also severely limited by the technology at the time, so it had some flaws.
You also have to look at these units in the proper historical context. Measurements were a complete mess, so having at least something that sort of makes some sense and is somewhat repeatable, is a clear improvement. Both, Fahrenheit and Celcius scales totally addressed those concerns, and that makes them both good enough. Absolute zero and plank temperature weren’t even known back then, so what can you expect.
When it comes to using these units in serious scientific and engineering applications, you run into problems, but the kelvin scale addresses those pretty well. It’s not exactly elegant, but at least it’s functional. Because of historical baggage, we’re pretty much stuck with these units, but it could be worse.
Vilian@lemmy.ca 17 hours ago
Human experience in weather is arbitrary and that’s just cope, celcius fells as much natural as fahrenheit, the only difference is what you learned as kid
jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 23 hours ago
Culturally speaking, it’s pretty cursed to use some units that are specific to a country instead of the global standard for science. Extra cursed if it’s for serious engineering (just ask NASA).
SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz 22 hours ago
The other scores seem to be more about inherent cursedness, not simply ‘there is a far better option’.