live in a place where it's always exactly -40° and you never have to convert
this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2025
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But what is that in Rankine?
Just refuse to use Fahrenheit like a sane person
It's a learning process
The one thing farenheit has going for it is that it's on a human scale.
0F is really fucking cold 0C is just pretty cold
50F is pretty comfortable 50C is basically dead
100F is really fucking hot 100C is you're dead
americans please learn the difference between something being intuitive and something being taught to you from the age of 4
Oh no, is not intuitive at all. It's just that 1-100 is the most common human scale range. Celsius isn't intuitive either.
If we wanted to be intuitive or unambiguous, we'd use Joules per square meter and bucket that by source (direct solar, radiant heat, atmospheric heat, etc.)
That's a bit less directly applicable to "is it hot outside" than a general "temperature" unit though.
This is really only because you’re familiarized with Fahrenheit.
I hear it’s 40’C and I don’t think “well that’s much less than 100 so…” it’s not how that actually works
People in Australia seeing the 45 on their thermometers and putting on a jumper to hike to the shops
lol, this tired american cope lol
More like:
Fahrenheit is air-on-Earth scaled. 0-100 is about the typical range of temperatures on the Earth's surface (excluding the winter pole) for a given day. This makes it ideally tailored to describing weather, its purpose.
Celcius is will-water-be-liquid scaled. Specifically on Earth at sea level, but even going into space it's not that far off. That makes it ideally tailored for cooking and doing other water-based chemistry, its purpose.
Totally agree, I prefer C for anything related to cooking because the range is suited for that. For general feel of the outdoors, F makes sense (though C can too, I'm just much more okay with using different units for different things).
It's all vibes when it comes to this specific situation. Length is meters all the way
I don't really talk to americans, so I never need to.
There's no formula in my head, it's just straight vibes.
I’m in the US but prefer metric. So I use Celsius on my phone, laptop etc. For my own use there’s a little mnemonic that makes it unnecessary to convert and helps build intuition. It goes “30 is hot, 20 is nice, 10 is cold, 0 is ice.” That pretty much hits all the practical needs I have for my weather forecasts etc.
If I need to convert though I do the multiply by 2 and add 32 formula for a rough estimate
Multiply by 2 and add 30 is a bit more accurate for weather temps, since 9/5 is less than 2.
Use milestones. I know:
-40 C = -40 F
-10 = 14
0 = 32
10 = 50
20 = 68
30 = 86
100 = 212
And for everything else, 1 C is about 2 F, extrapolate.
These two are easy to remember:
16C ~= 61F 28C ~= 82F
Realistically, this is how I do it. I just gotta vibe with 20C~70F, and 0C~30F. If I need to convert exactly, I do it on my phone.
Realistically, I use F for weather and cooking, and C for work and hobby stuff. Doesn't cause too much mental confusion. Honestly, just interacting with Celsius for a few weeks would clear up any confusion and anxiety Americans have with it (and it is Americans we're talking about, no-one else has this problem)
i only know a few of these milestones so i just nod and go by vibes, mostly. of course, the only place i encounter F is in youtube videos, so it doesnt really matter
I know these milestones too but it takes two seconds to ask my phone by voice. "14f to c" and I have it without doing any work. I also know the formula, and I'm too nerdy to accept 9/5=2.
First one, then th'other.
I don't . I use a calculator
Doing the actual precise formula in your head is a waste of time, it's more useful to remember approximate round numbers for things like what's a comfortable room temperature (20C/70F), a hot day (30C/85F), freezing, boiling, etc. Fun fact: -40 is -40 in both.
C > F just double and add 32 and you'll get close enough.
please don't ask me to launch any rockets or anything but it works out pretty well on the fly when my american brain is talking weather with someone who uses metric
First of all, mesuring system was created so that all people in the world would use the same measuring units so we can understand one another and this problem you are talking about would not exist. And world did that, whole world is using centimetars and metars but no americans must piss against the wind and use inches. Whole world is using celsius but no americans must piss against the wind and use farenhajt. Whole world is using litars but no americans will use galons. Whole world is using kilometars but no americans will use miles. Whole world is using grams and kilograms but americans will use pounds… So thats why this problem now exists still after so much time since unitar metryc sistem was adopted trou whole world. But luckly its only americans, the rest of the world is fine so it doesnt matter that much but still. And to answer your question i just use iphones quick search to translate it when i rearly need it. About mesmorising idk for miles i know its about 1.6 times more than km so 100mi is 160km so thats how i remember..
If you just need an estimate this is pretty easy to do in your head:
Degrees Celsius x2 +32 =Fahrenheit
(Degrees Fahrenheit -32 )/2 = Celsius
The real number is 1.8 but that’s a bit harder for most people to do without a calculator.
I've always thought of it as the fraction 9/5 instead of 1.8. I think that makes it easier because you can break it down into two steps, dividing by 5 and multiplying by 9. can't multiply by 9 in your head? well that's easy, just multiply by 10 and subtract the original number. and dividing by 5 is just dividing by 10 and then doubling it.
(I really wish math education put more emphasis on breaking down problems into a series of smaller problems like this)
I really wish math education put more emphasis on breaking down problems into a series of smaller problems like this
Doesn't "common core" kind of do that but parents complain?
To get closer add/subtract 30 instead of 32 so the formula is easier.
For my perfect example:
- Normal way:
50F - 32 = 18 / 1.8 = 10C
- Simplified:
50F - 30 = 20 / 2 = 10C
I don't.
I think and say everything in Metric.
I can think and say in Imperial, but its such a boring system.
Basically brute forced it by checking fridge temperatures at jobs cause you gotta log those for health code reasons. Most of the fridge thermometers were fareheit so now for anywhere between 0 and 10c I just kinda already know it
32F is 0C, from there every 9F is 5C. Increase the digit on the left, decrease the digit on the right for every 5°C. So 41F=5C, 50F=10C, 59F=15C, etc. Then I approximate each 2 degrees F as 1 degree C, so for example if it is 13°C outside, than is close to 15°C, which is 59°C, and I subtract 4, which gives me 55°F. This is just how I do it, not sure if it helps.
Someone here suggested multiplying by 2, add 32, and someone else said multiply by 2, add 30. I don't know if this complicates it more, but what you can do is multiply by 2, add 32, and subtract 2 times the first digit, assuming that the number is 2 digits. So for example, let's say the temperature is -21°C. Multiply by 2, and you get -42, add 32, that is -10, and then subtract 2(-2), and that's -6°F.
For converting from F to C, you could adapt this method. Subtract 32, divide by 2, and add the first digit of the answer rounded to the closest tens place. So if we have 83°F, we subtract 32 to get 51, divide by 2 and that's 25.5, add 3 and that's 28.5°C.
Also sometimes some numbers are easy to convert, such as -40°, and there is also that 3.9°C=39°F, although these probably aren't that useful.
c to f : double it and add 30
f to c: subtract 30 then halve it
not perfect but close enough for weather purposes
Think about it like this
100 degrees C --> 212 degrees F, right?
Well, you got to remember 5/9 or 9/5 and then the number 32, then figure out how 100 degrees C turned into 212 degrees F and vice versa, using those factors
(100 * 9/5 (or 1.8) ) + 32 = 212 degrees F
32F = 0C
61F = ~16 C
82F = ~28C
then I just estimate the conversion based on those values. Not exact, but close enough for knowing if I need a jacket or not
Mostly just google it. I memorise freezing, boiling, room and body heat temps. Once you get those then you get a good frame of refrence.
I set my personal devices to celcius to immerse myself in it more.
Canada's finest scholars can teach you.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Usually it's C to F for me so I divide it by 5 and multiply by 9, then add 32.
Thankfully it's usually only for weather temps so I'm never dividing by very high numbers.