Fahrenheit

Description

An old temperature scale that is still used in the United States for weather-related temperatures. The Fahrenheit scale was developed by Gabriel Fahrenheit, a German, in 1714 when he invented the mercury thermometer. This scale sets the boiling point of water at 32 F (1 atm) and the boiling point of water at 212 F. Temperatures in the Fahrenheit scale can be converted to the international scale units of Celsius by the following equations:

T (C) = 0.555[ T (F) -32]

T (F) = 1.8 T (C) + 32

Synonyms and Related Terms

temperature scale; F

Resources and Citations

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• ASTM, Standard Terminology Relating to Thermophysical Properties, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Section 6, Paints, Related Coatings and Aromatics, ASTM, E1142, 695-696, Jul-94

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998