| Brannan
Educational Resources |
What
is the difference between
Celcius, Centigrade and
Fahrenheit
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| What is
Celcius? |
• This is
the most common temperature
scale in the world and the
simplest to understand.
• Put simply, 0°C is
the freezing point of water
and 100°C is the boiling
point of water.
• Centigrade is an old
fashioned name for Celcius.
• You can abbreviate it
to °C.
• The scale is named
after Swedish scientist
Anders Celcius (1701-1744). |
°C |
| What is
Fahrenheit? |
•
Fahrenheit is still in
everyday use in the USA and
preferred by older people in
the UK.
• In Fahrenheit the
freezing point of water is
32°F and the boiling point
is 212°F.
• You can abbreviate it
to °F.
• The scale is named
after its originator Gabriel
Fahrenheit (1686-1736). |
°F |
| So what was
Centigrade? |
•
Centigrade is the old
fashioned name for Celcius.
• The name Centigrade
was derived from the latin -
meaning hundred degrees.
• When Anders Celcius
created his original scale in
1742 he inexplicably chose
0° for the boiling point and
100° for the freezing point.
• One year later
Frenchman Jean Pierre Cristin
proposed an inverted version
of the scale (freezing point
0°, boiling point 100°). He
named it Centigrade.
• In
1948, by international
agreement, Cristin's adapted
scale became known as Celsius
to honour the Swedish
Scientist. |
| What is the
difference between them? |
• Celcius,
Centigrade & Fahrenheit
are all temperature scales.
• All temperatures can
be expressed in Celcius or
Fahrenheit.
• Both scales have the
same value at -40°: -40°C =
-40°F
• To convert between
Celcius or Fahrenheit you can
use the following equations:
°C = °F - 32 x (5/9)
°F = °C / (5/9) + 32
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