General Chat

Helen, as I see it, the Centigrade scale IS zero to 100degrees. of course there are 'calculated' minus C temps. Electrical themometers can be calibrated/scaled,to read a Suedo minus amount as can mechanical ones. whereas the Celcius scale Includes minus amounts.

It seems you can have minus centigrade temperatures: '1391/ Oxygen becomes a liquid if cooled to below *****minus 183 degrees centigrade***** (minus 297 F). The resulting liquid is pale blue. Cool it still further, to minus 218 degrees centigrade (minus 361 F), and it becomes a bright red solid.' www.firstscience*com/SITE/factfile/factfile1381_1400.asp

Bob Well, what system do they use in places where the temperature regularly drops below freezing - ie Siberia, Iceland, etc??

Some wonderful answers there.but still not what I was looking for, .......we in britain used Fahrenheit as our preferred scale and when britain tried to go decimal with temperatures, Centigrade was the decimal scale. Fahrenheit copes with minus temperatures by going towards zero.......from freezing at 32 deg. ie 10 degrees of frost..=22 deg.F Centigrade does ONLY from freezing point UP to boiling, 0-100 degrees. therefore you cannot have -C temps The Celcius scale does go below zero............. perhaps some one will shoot me down, but that is how I understood it......Bob

double the temperature and add 30

To quote from Basic Physics Vol 1 Part 2, In the original scale as devised by Celsius, in 1742, the freezing pont of water was designated 100deg and its boiling point 0deg. On th Fahrenheit scale, named after its originator who devised it in 1709, the lower fixed point (the ice point) is marked 32degF and the upper fixed point (the steam point) 212degF. On the Centigrade scale, another one in common use, the lower fixed point is marked 0degC and the upper one 100degC. At the 9th General Conf. on Weights and Measures (and international meeting held in Oct 1948) it was agreed to change the name of this scale from Centigrade to Celsius thus bringing English-speaking countries into line with the many already using this term. However, there appears to be some reluctance to make the change and the Brit. Standards Institution has decided not to adopt the new name at this stage (c1950). Perhaps the EU decreed that Britain should follow suit.

All I know is how to convert C to F and vice versa. And that there is (or was) also a Kelvin scale. Will have to get out my ancient (1950s) school science books to see what they say. Helens conversion formulae are correct.

Celsius was named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1700's). One reason for the change was that the term centigrade was in use in continental Europe as a measure of plane angle equal to one ten-thousandth part of a right angle.

I think it is because centigrade is a nicer word!! Kaz x

I thought it was when we went to the decimal sytem? Deb

if no one gets it, i'll tell you in the morning........... bob

Heather, correct.........but...

Anders Celsius was the chap who had the idea of the 0-100 scale.... I think. Heather

Haven't read the whole thread. When we went from F to C the fastest way to convert was to double it and add 30. So if the temp is 21c x 2 = 42 plus 30 = 72f. Close enough anyway. Deb

Dave, Centigrade is exactly that............0 to 100 degrees. Celcius is?.....

No difference in them only change of name, and if you want to convert to fahenreit which we know double it and add 28 Davex

no..........not cooking the two scales are basically the same, but for ONE difference.....Bob.

Hang on .. are you talking Cooking terms here ?? Elaine ;-) OK .... I'm with Helen then !!! Still can't answer your ACTUAL question though !! :-0))) lol Elaine ;-) Nite Nite folks :-)

Elaine Helens answer IS correct to convert CENTIGRADE to Fahrenheit, and vice versa my question was .Why do they use Celcius instead of Centigrade? Bob

Excuse me ....... now I am totally confused and totally tired :-))))) Who is right and who is wrong ??? I say again .... PLEASE DO NOT DELETE !!!!!!!!! Elaine ;-)