Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 12:38:44 +0000 From: Tony Finch <dot@dotat.at> To: Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@ofug.org> Cc: "Daniel C. Sobral" <dcs@newsguy.com>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG, Tony Finch <dot@dotat.at> Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/usr.bin/units units.1 Message-ID: <20010302123844.G412@hand.dotat.at> In-Reply-To: <xzp66hsnyuf.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> References: <XFMail.010228235054.jhb@FreeBSD.org> <3A9E26B2.196CD018@newsguy.com> <20010302114736.C412@hand.dotat.at> <xzp66hsnyuf.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no>
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Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@ofug.org> wrote: >Tony Finch <dot@dotat.at> writes: >> "Daniel C. Sobral" <dcs@newsguy.com> wrote: >> > The size is different, but the scale was created by defining what 0 and >> > 100 degrees F represented, just like Celsius. >> I thought Farenheit was defined based on 0 and 96, since when it was >> invented it was much easier to make the graduations on a thermometer >> by divisions of 2 and 3 rather than 2 and 5. > >No, 0 and 100. 100 degrees Farenheit is very slightly above normal >body temperature, allegedly the person he used as benchmark was >running a slight fever that day. I'm not complaining, though - "101 >Farenheit degrees" doesn't sound quite as cool as "99.9 Farenheit >degrees" http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/blynds/tmp.html : Fahrenheit described how he calibrated the scale of his mercury : thermometer: : : "placing the thermometer in a mixture of sal ammoniac or sea : salt, ice, and water a point on the scale will be found which is : denoted as zero. A second point is obtained if the same mixture : is used without salt. Denote this position as 30. A third point, : designated as 96, is obtained if the thermometer is placed in : the mouth so as to acquire the heat of a healthy man." (D. G. : Fahrenheit,Phil. Trans. (London) 33, 78, 1724) Tony. -- f.a.n.finch fanf@covalent.net dot@dotat.at MALIN: SOUTHEAST VEERING SOUTHWEST 4 OR 5, OCCASIONALLY 6, INCREASING 7 AT TIMES LATER. SNOW SHOWERS. MAINLY GOOD. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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