Poll of the Day > Fahrenheit is better than Celsius

(+) Yeah! (+)

Because 69F is nice.
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You make a good point.

For real though I think Celsius is better but temperature is the one unit that either side of the metric vs imperial debate can have a fair point, it's all relatively arbitrary.

Literally every other unit is indisputably better in metric, so I guess imperial unit fans need something to kind of hold on to.
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I prefer Fahrenheit for the weather. Idk, it has a bigger range and makes more sense to me but thats probably because i grew up with it. Metric system is better for literally everything else.

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I generally would be fine seeing a switch from English to Metric. Temperature is a shining exception.
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I generally would be fine seeing a switch from English to Metric. Temperature is a shining exception.
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Thought you were gunna say it has more action
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Lokarin posted...

Thought you were gunna say it has more action

This, or that its blood is pure.
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I think it's better for layman weather and that's about it. Celsius is better for everything else.
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drug dealers use the metric system
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KJ StErOiDs posted...

switch from English to Metric.

wut

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Krazy_Kirby posted...

drug dealers use the metric system

They use both. Ounces and pounds ive seen used commonly with weed. Ive also seen grams used for weed but never kilo. Ive only heard kilogram brought up with other drugs.
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faramir77 posted...

For real though I think Celsius is better but temperature is the one unit that either side of the metric vs imperial debate can have a fair point, it's all relatively arbitrary

It's not, though.

Celsius was all based around water. 0 degrees is freezing, 100 is boiling (at sea level). Simple, straightforward, easy to remember, and most scientific calculations are based around it.

Fahrenheit is just utterly random and I have yet to hear a decent argument in its favour beyond "It's what I'm used to". As a metric user, I know that freezing is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30, but I couldn't even tell you what boiling is, and it's one of the most pain in the ass units to convert. Also it's harder to spell then Celsius, which, in the strictest technical terms, isn't a scientific criticism of it as a unit, but it annoys me and therefore is automatically valid.
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darkknight109 posted...

faramir77 posted...

For real though I think Celsius is better but temperature is the one unit that either side of the metric vs imperial debate can have a fair point, it's all relatively arbitrary

It's not, though.

Celsius was all based around water. 0 degrees is freezing, 100 is boiling (at sea level). Simple, straightforward, easy to remember, and most scientific calculations are based around it.

Fahrenheit is just utterly random and I have yet to hear a decent argument in its favour beyond "It's what I'm used to". As a metric user, I know that freezing is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30, but I couldn't even tell you what boiling is, and it's one of the most pain in the ass units to convert. Also it's harder to spell then Celsius, which, in the strictest technical terms, isn't a scientific criticism of it as a unit, but it annoys me and therefore is automatically valid.

Oh, cool I'll make sure to ask you when I'm doing chemistry while going for a walk, because we all need a convent water boiling temperature.
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shadowsword87 posted...

Oh, cool I'll make sure to ask you when I'm doing chemistry while going for a walk, because we all need a convent water boiling temperature.

To be fair, Celsius makes more sense for daily life, too. Water's freezing point being 0C makes it very clear whether snow will melt or not. 0F means nothing important to daily life.
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darkknight109 posted...

faramir77 posted...

For real though I think Celsius is better but temperature is the one unit that either side of the metric vs imperial debate can have a fair point, it's all relatively arbitrary

It's not, though.

Celsius was all based around water. 0 degrees is freezing, 100 is boiling (at sea level). Simple, straightforward, easy to remember, and most scientific calculations are based around it.

Fahrenheit is just utterly random and I have yet to hear a decent argument in its favour beyond "It's what I'm used to". As a metric user, I know that freezing is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30, but I couldn't even tell you what boiling is, and it's one of the most pain in the ass units to convert. Also it's harder to spell then Celsius, which, in the strictest technical terms, isn't a scientific criticism of it as a unit, but it annoys me and therefore is automatically valid.

32 is freezing and 120 is boiling. Just in case you actually wanted to know.
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faramir77 posted...

To be fair, Celsius makes more sense for daily life, too. Water's freezing point being 0C makes it very clear whether snow will melt or not. 0F means nothing important to daily life.

Snow melting on the ground has to do with the temperature of the ground, not the temperature of the air.
But, never in my life have I wondered what temperature water freezers at. It's not a big deal.
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mooreandrew58 posted...

32 is freezing and 120 is boiling. Just in case you actually wanted to know.

Wut?
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Blaqthourne posted...

mooreandrew58 posted...

32 is freezing and 120 is boiling. Just in case you actually wanted to know.

Wut?

Sorry had a brain fart. 212. What is 120 for though. That number seems to stick in memory for some reason regarding tempature
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Metric obviously is superior and almost used universally. Only reason the states don't use it is because the cost of converting would be exponential.

Freezing 0
Boiling 100

KJ StErOiDs posted...

I generally would be fine seeing a switch from English to Metric. Temperature is a shining exception.

It was tried. It failed. North Americans don't like it and we never will. No one in their right mind wants a liter of milk when you can get the almighty gallon!
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Lordkill posted...

KJ StErOiDs posted...

I generally would be fine seeing a switch from English to Metric. Temperature is a shining exception.

It was tried. It failed. North Americans don't like it and we never will. No one in their right mind wants a liter of milk when you can get the almighty gallon!

I just dont like milileters honestly. And i think that just boils down to a smaller number looks more appealing. 12 ozs vs 355 mls for example.
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faramir77 posted...

shadowsword87 posted...

Oh, cool I'll make sure to ask you when I'm doing chemistry while going for a walk, because we all need a convent water boiling temperature.

To be fair, Celsius makes more sense for daily life, too. Water's freezing point being 0C makes it very clear whether snow will melt or not. 0F means nothing important to daily life.

If that's your rationale than you could use literally any units in the world for anything, because nothing is important to you.

Weight of a pound? Unimportant. You can use kilograms or stones or esterlings, because you don't need to know the exact mass of anything in your day-to-day life, at least not relative to any meaningful standard like how SI uses water at sea level. Length of a mile? Who cares, it doesn't change the distance you need to walk/drive - use cubits or spats; hell, paces or steps would probably be more practical for you.

If you're that unconcerned about units, purely because it doesn't affect you personally in your day-to-day life, then you should be happy regardless of which system is used, because it won't make any difference to you.
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Lordkill posted...

KJ StErOiDs posted...

I generally would be fine seeing a switch from English to Metric. Temperature is a shining exception.

It was tried. It failed. North Americans don't like it and we never will. No one in their right mind wants a liter of milk when you can get the almighty gallon!

You mean "Americans" don't like it. Mexico and Central America are entirely metric, and Canada is mostly metric (the only major exceptions being that people still typically use Imperial for personal height and weight, even though metric units are used for nearly every other measure of length or weight).

And yes, milk is sold by litres. You can get 1, 2, or 4 litre jugs.
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or you could get a gallon/half gallon of milk
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faramir77 posted...

0F means nothing important to daily life.

0F means it's frickin' cold out, whereas 0C is still somewhat comfortable. Likewise, 100F means it's really hot out, while 100C means... well, we would have bigger problems on our hands than debating metric vs. English.
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shadowsword87 posted...

Snow melting on the ground has to do with the temperature of the ground, not the temperature of the air.
But, never in my life have I wondered what temperature water freezers at. It's not a big deal.

Its a big deal in places where it snows. If the forecast says its going to rain with a 2 C, but in a couple of hours its going to be -5 C you can expect the roads to ice up. Times like this can determine whether or not some people decide to drive or not.

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faramir77 posted...

0F means nothing important to daily life.

It's roughly the point at which throwing salt down on ice won't do anything, which can be kind of handy. That's approximate and uncommon enough that just remembering -20C is good enough, though.

The only thing I'd say Fahrenheit is better for is candy making, where the break points between stages are generally 5-10F apart, which is easier to remember than a bunch of thresholds that are separated by 3-6C.
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StriderQ posted...

Its a big deal in places where it snows. If the forecast says its going to rain with a 2 C, but in a couple of hours its going to be -5 C you can expect the roads to ice up. Times like this can determine whether or not some people decide to drive or not.

...It all depends on if the ground is cold or not. 30F at the start of very fall doesn't mean there will be ice on the road as much as a 30F snowfall at the end of fall.
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kelvins ftw
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I like what we use already. Plus, theres no need to switch...

darkknight109 posted...

faramir77 posted...

shadowsword87 posted...

Oh, cool I'll make sure to ask you when I'm doing chemistry while going for a walk, because we all need a convent water boiling temperature.

To be fair, Celsius makes more sense for daily life, too. Water's freezing point being 0C makes it very clear whether snow will melt or not. 0F means nothing important to daily life.

If that's your rationale than you could use literally any units in the world for anything, because nothing is important to you.

Weight of a pound? Unimportant. You can use kilograms or stones or esterlings, because you don't need to know the exact mass of anything in your day-to-day life, at least not relative to any meaningful standard like how SI uses water at sea level. Length of a mile? Who cares, it doesn't change the distance you need to walk/drive - use cubits or spats; hell, paces or steps would probably be more practical for you.

If you're that unconcerned about units, purely because it doesn't affect you personally in your day-to-day life, then you should be happy regardless of which system is used, because it won't make any difference to you.

Arent they agreeing with you? Why are you arguing with them?

Krazy_Kirby posted...

or you could get a gallon/half gallon of milk

I like this more...
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shadowsword87 posted...

...It all depends on if the ground is cold or not. 30F at the start of very fall doesn't mean there will be ice on the road as much as a 30F snowfall at the end of fall.

Okay, I could argue how quickly black ice forms but... in northern climates during winter, when there is a forecast of rain with a 5-10 C, people dont usually worry about black ice. However, if the forecast calls for 0-5 C with rain in the daytime and -1 to -10 C in the evening, people take into account how quickly ice forms on the roads and precautions would be taken as a result.

That is why knowing when water freezes is very important to many people in the world.

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StriderQ posted...

That is why knowing when water freezes is very important to many people in the world.

And people will get to know at what value that happens, regardless of what value it is. There's nothing inherently better about that value being 0, 32, -45, 283, a million, etc.
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LinkPizza posted...

Arent they agreeing with you? Why are you arguing with them?

Quoted the wrong person - meant to quote shadowsword's post, not the response to it.
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Blaqthourne posted...

There's nothing inherently better about that value being 0, 32, -45, 283, a million, etc.

yes there is. negative numbers being freezing and positive numbers being melting is a lot clearer to understand than above/below some random number like 32. for one thing, it's symmetrical that way, with distance from the freezing point being the same on both sides. living somewhere where the temperature will often fluctuate back and forth between freezing and melting over and over and over day after day, it makes a big difference.

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^ A 5-year-old can understand that 32 is freezing.
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Blaqthourne posted...

^ A 5-year-old can understand that 32 is freezing.

and yet -7 and +7 are still much clearer than 25 and 39.


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Sahuagin posted...

Blaqthourne posted...

^ A 5-year-old can understand that 32 is freezing.

and yet -7 and +7 are still much clearer than 25 and 39.

Unless youve been using the other system all your life...
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Sahuagin posted...

Blaqthourne posted...

^ A 5-year-old can understand that 32 is freezing.

and yet -7 and +7 are still much clearer than 25 and 39.

And yet somehow if you grow up using Fahrenheot, 25 and 39 is perfectly clear that those are above and below the freezing point of water.

If you aren't taught the freezing point of water, what significance would 0C have?
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LinkPizza posted...

Sahuagin posted...

Blaqthourne posted...

^ A 5-year-old can understand that 32 is freezing.

and yet -7 and +7 are still much clearer than 25 and 39.

Unless youve been using the other system all your life...

So again, the only defense for Fahrenheit is Im used to it.
I live in the US and use the imperial system everyday and even I can recognize how utterly asinine it is.
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LinkPizza posted...

Unless youve been using the other system all your life...

the point is ostensibly to find arguments one way or the other beyond just "I'm used to it more"

Blaqthourne posted...

And yet somehow if you grow up using Fahrenheot, 25 and 39 is perfectly clear that those are above and below the freezing point of water.

"perfectly clear"? +/-7 is unarguably more clear, even in the case that it's less familiar.

Blaqthourne posted...

If you aren't taught the freezing point of water, what significance would 0C have?

yes, if you don't live somewhere that the freezing point of water comes into play, then this doesn't make a difference.

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Blaqthourne posted...

Fahrenheot

You cant even spell it. More proof that Its inferior.
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ZBug_ posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Sahuagin posted...

Blaqthourne posted...

^ A 5-year-old can understand that 32 is freezing.

and yet -7 and +7 are still much clearer than 25 and 39.

Unless youve been using the other system all your life...

So again, the only defense for Fahrenheit is Im used to it.
I live in the US and use the imperial system everyday and even I can recognize how utterly asinine it is.

Its not, though. Youre talking about making everyone learn a new system because you like it a little better. But people using the system already know and understand it. Why make it difficult by making everyone learn a new system for literally no reason at all? Its actually asinine to change it for no reason...

Sahuagin posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Unless youve been using the other system all your life...

the point is ostensibly to find arguments one way or the other beyond just "I'm used to it more"

Except theres no reason to change it in the first place. Some people like it more. Whatever. That doesnt mean it needs to be change. People who are taught how the system works understand how it works. Why change it?
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LinkPizza posted...

Its not, though. Youre talking about making everyone learn a new system because you like it a little better. But people using the system already know and understand it. Why make it difficult by making everyone learn a new system for literally no reason at all? Its actually asinine to change it for no reason...

Thats not what Im talking about at all. I never even said that. I just said its objectively a worse system. And it is.
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LinkPizza posted...

Except theres no reason to change it in the first place. Some people like it more. Whatever. That doesnt mean it needs to be change. People who are taught how the system works understand how it works. Why change it?

I never said anything about changing anything. this is just straight up merits of one VS the other.

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ZBug_ posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Its not, though. Youre talking about making everyone learn a new system because you like it a little better. But people using the system already know and understand it. Why make it difficult by making everyone learn a new system for literally no reason at all? Its actually asinine to change it for no reason...

Thats not what Im talking about at all. I never even said that. I just said its objectively a worse system. And it is.

If thats what you think. I understand it much more than Celsius. And many people here do, as well...

Sahuagin posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Except theres no reason to change it in the first place. Some people like it more. Whatever. That doesnt mean it needs to be change. People who are taught how the system works understand how it works. Why change it?

I never said anything about changing anything. this is just straight up merits of one VS the other.

Do they really have merits. Different people use different systems becUse they understand one more than the other. Mostly because its the one theyve been taught.
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LinkPizza posted...

I understand it much more than Celsius. And many people here do, as well...

So again the only argument is Im used to it
No body should have ever became used to it. It shouldnt have been created.
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ZBug_ posted...

I just said its objectively a worse system. And it is.

Except that it's not. Why pick water as the base? Why not pick mercury, since that's what most thermometers use? I'll fecetiously argue that Fahrenheit is more precise, since whole number values represent a smaller difference in temperature than whole numbers on the Celcius scale.
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ZBug_ posted...

LinkPizza posted...

I understand it much more than Celsius. And many people here do, as well...

So again the only argument is Im used to it
No body should have ever became used to it. It shouldnt have been created.

But it works. So, whats the problem with it?
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LinkPizza posted...

Youre talking about making everyone learn a new system because you like it a little better. But people using the system already know and understand it. Why make it difficult by making everyone learn a new system for literally no reason at all? Its actually asinine to change it for no reason...

Maybe because the rest of the world uses metric? Because the US is literally the only holdout on the entire planet, other than Myanmar and Liberia, who has not recognized how much better the metric system is.

And yes, there is rationale behind it. Any US good that is being marketed overseas needs to be in metric; by remaining in the imperial system, the US is essentially forcing its own companies to make two versions of their product, one with SI labelling and one with imperial labelling. And the same goes for importing - many foreign products are designed to work with metric, not imperial, forcing domestic conversions that can be costly.

Hell, I get to deal with that in my professional life. I'm an engineer and the clients I work with are based all over the world. When my company is running analysis for American clients, they essentially pay a small premium because we have to rejigger our analysis tools and spreadsheets to work with Imperial units, which we charge for. This also introduces a potential source for error, which was fairly dramatically demonstrated with the Mars Climate Orbiter when Lockheed-Martin's software caused the orbiter to crash because it was designed to work with Imperial, rather than metric units, meaning that the US taxpayers got to pay over $300 million to crash a satellite into Mars because the country's too stubborn to join everyone else in the 21st century.
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LinkPizza posted...

Do they really have merits

Yes, they do, chiefly around unit conversion. All metric units, other than the second, are based around Base 10, with major units occurring every three orders of magnitude. There are 1000 millilitres in a litre, 1000 metres in a kilometre, 1000 grams in a kilogram, 1,000,000 pascals in a megapascal, 1000 kg in a tonne, so on and so forth. Simple, clean easy

Contrast to imperial. There are 12 inches in a foot, three feet per yard, 1760 yards per mile. There are 16 cups in a gallon, There are 8 ounces per cup, 4 cups per quart, 4 quarts per gallon. There are 16 ounces per pound, 2000 pounds per ton (unless you're in the UK, in which case it's 2240 pounds per ton). It's entirely arbitrary and pointlessly so. And don't even get me started on the other nonsense with Imperial, like how an "ounce" can be a measure of volume or mass, or how a pound can be a unit of mass or weight.

Moreover, because metric was designed around base units, all physical equations are simplified, with no unit conversion factors necessary. Work = Force x Distance; Power = Energy/Time; Force = Mass x Acceleration. In imperial, all of those equations require conversion factors to make the units line up. In metric, you just plug in your numbers and away you go.

Blaqthourne posted...

Why pick water as the base? Why not pick mercury, since that's what most thermometers use?

Most thermometers don't use mercury and haven't for a long time because of how toxic it is.

More to the point, water is one of the most common substances in our day-to-day lives and is one of the rare substances that we frequently encounter in all three basic physical states (solid as snow/ice, liquid as water, gas as steam). By contrast, you are unlikely to ever encounter solid or gaseous mercury, unless you are a chemist.
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