The Celsius temperature scale is based on water’s behavior at normal pressure and is used worldwide, with the freezing point at 0 degrees and boiling point at 100 degrees. It was named after Anders Celsius and was previously known as the centigrade temperature scale. The Kelvin scale uses absolute 0 as the 0 point and is based on the Celsius scale. Fahrenheit and Celsius can be converted using a formula or by doubling and adding 32.
The Celsius temperature scale, more properly known as the Celsius temperature scale, is a scale for measuring temperatures that is based on the behavior of water at normal pressure. This scale is used extensively throughout much of the world to express temperatures, with some hardy nations using the Fahrenheit temperature scale. The Celsius scale is also used as a reference point for the Kelvin scale, which is used in the scientific community.
On the Celsius scale, the freezing point of water is set at 0 degrees and the boiling point of water is 100 degrees. The scale is named after Anders Celsius, a Swedish man who developed an early version of this scale. Somewhat confusingly, early versions of the Celsius temperature scale were reversed, with water freezing at 100 degrees and boiling at 0 degrees. Linnaeus is widely credited with being the first to use 0 as a freezing point.
The scale was widely referred to as the centigrade temperature scale until 1948, when it was changed to “Celsius” to avoid confusion with a unit of measurement also called centigrade. However, many people continue to use the term “centigrade temperature scale,” especially members of the lay public who are not in the habit of checking the proceedings of the General Conference on Weights and Measures. Both uses are widely understood, although scientists may flinch when they hear “centigrade temperature scale.”
The basic concept of the Celsius scale was adapted during the development of the Kelvin scale. The Kelvin temperature scale uses absolute 0, the theoretically coldest possible temperature, as the 0 point, making the freezing point of water 273.15 kelvins (32 degrees Fahrenheit). The 100-point distance between freezing and boiling is maintained on the Kelvin scale, so water boils at 373.15 kelvins (212 degrees Fahrenheit). Incidentally, a kelvin is a unit of measurement, which is why temperatures are expressed in ‘kelvins’, not ‘degrees kelvin’, and by convention, ‘kelvin’ is not capitalized when providing temperature measurements, although it is when talking about the Kelvin scale.
It is not uncommon to find a thermometer that gives measurements in Fahrenheit and Celsius, for the convenience of converting between the two systems, especially in the United States. It can be helpful to know that one degree Fahrenheit is 5/9s of a degree Celsius, and the quickest way to approximate Celsius temperatures to Fahrenheit is to double down and add 32, although the actual formula is (°C × 1.8) + 32.
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