2006-11-19 08:58:20 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Absolutely nothing. The scale was devised by a Danish astronomer named Ole Romer (Fahrenheit only created the mercury thermometer, he went to Romer for a scale). Romer also did some dabbling in meteorology and hated negative numbers. Zero was simply colder than it ever got in Denmark. 100 doesn't mean anything either, the boiling point of water was defined as 60, then later changed (some other landmarks on the scales were in fractions, and Fahrenheit wanted to get rid of them). So, the boiling point of water was now 212, the freezing point of water worked out as 32 degrees. Fahrenheit claimed 0 was a mix of water, ice, and ammonium chloride, but this was a crock. He just thought he needed something to work out as 0 degrees when he presented it to other scientists.
2006-11-19 09:54:07 · answer #1 · answered by The Doctor 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Fahrenheit scale was invented by the German scientist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, and was fixed by two temperatures: zero degrees Fahrenheit was the temperature of a mix of water, ice, and salt. Ninety degrees Fahrenheit was what people in those days thought was the normal temperature of the human body. Not terribly practical, huh?
See if YOU can figure out what -40F would be in centigrade!
2006-11-19 09:10:36 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's the temperature of either a salt-ice mixture or of an alcohol-ice mixture. I can't remember which, but I think if you googled "fahrenheit scale" you'd probably find out.
2006-11-19 09:02:58 · answer #3 · answered by hcbiochem 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was the coldest temp. Mr. Fahrenheit encountered.
2006-11-19 09:08:13 · answer #4 · answered by lottyjoy 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋