(no subject)

[labellementeuse]

OH ALSO. I was at a quiz night last night and a couple of girls from the USA were on my team. One of the questions was "what's 100 deg Centigrade in Fahrenheit?" We immediately asked them "So, what temperature does water boil at in Fahrenheit?"

They didn't know.

... right.

Is this common? Do YOU know what the boiling point of water is in your local unit? They said they didn't know because they only used boiling point in science classes, where Celsius was used. Is that true? I'm sure I knew what temperature water boiled at before I took a science class, but... is this just something that you guys generally don't know? ???

Comments

[kuril.livejournal.com]

212F was in my mind somewhere but if asked out of the blue I probably wouldn't have a prompt answer. But I do have the conversion formula in my head 9/5c+32 and would mentally do the math :-p Frankly, I really hate Fahrenheit. It was invented in such an arbitrary way that I'm amazed anyone takes it seriously.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

Well, I've always been a C girl, so I'm with you there. But I would expect people who use it on a daily basis to be familiar with it, you know?

[kuril.livejournal.com]

Oh and as far as my experience goes, I have never use imperial units or Fahrenheit in science classes. Thank goodness.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Uh... I certainly thought the freezing and boiling points of water were common knowledge.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

I would have assumed so - but then again, I suppose I really don't use my knowledge about boiling and freezing temps outside of the classroom (and, er, not that anymore, since, you know: English major). I have to say, everyone who has responded in the affirmative is definitely a Science Type.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

In all fairness, I suppose that for kitchen purposes, there's rarely occasion to take the temperature of water undergoing a phase change.

Though, hm -- I wonder if they'd have had an easier time with the freezing point? That at least comes up in weather.

[megaffe.livejournal.com]

Just to quibble - in any any serious preserve or sweet making boiling temperature etc may be essential. Also, growing up I'm pretty sure we had kitchen conversations about various additives (eg salt, milk) raising or lowering boiling points. Then again, science-geeky family.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

I think if you don't know that milk has a lower bp than water, well, you haven't cooked enough, but it's also not really necessary to know the exact temperature either. (And isn't salt lowering bp a myth?)

Agreed in re: preserves and sweet making, but a majority of people don't include those (especially preserves, where it's really really necessary - sweet making you can usually guesstimate with soft crack, balling, etc) in their regular cooking schedule.

[megaffe.livejournal.com]

Yes, salt lowering bp would be a myth, as it actually raises it, slightly. Not really enough to make much of difference - just takes slightly longer to come to the boil, and is slightly hotter. Guess you're right not really needing to know the temperature for that though - I did say we were geeky!

Oh no, my view of the world is destroyed, I thought everyone made preserves :(

[avendya.livejournal.com]

212 degrees F, 100 degrees C, 373 K.

[confusiontempst.livejournal.com]

I totally had it in my mind that boiling point was 180F.

[confusiontempst.livejournal.com]

Oh right. 32 degrees F is freezing point, 180 degrees from there is 212. Now I see my error.

[ilyena_sylph]

212, and no, I didn't look before I answered.

Idiots are idiots the world around, I'm afraid, and the US, by virtue of her size, has a plenty. unfortunately.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

*g* Go you! Apparently it's quite common for a majority of people to only need to know this in science classes, though...

[chattycheese.livejournal.com]

Hooo boy that' scary. I'll admit, I know it if I think about it for a second but in my mind, after three years of a chemistry degree, that I automatically think about water between 0 and 100 centigrade. I don't even consider it on a fahrenheit scale except when I'm driving and it's raining and I'm worried about the roads freezing over.

I asked the four people (all intelligent girls of their own regard...well, three of them at least) on my roommate's bed and none of them could think of it in any terms other than celsius. Or, 100 F, the dumb one answered.

It's such an odd number, and I'm pretty sure that we haven't been told what the boiling point of water is in fahrenheit since we were 10 (probably even younger than that). The only time I measure the temperature of boiling water, I'm in a lab. And there, it's celsius. The disconnect between the two systems is mostly gone in my brain these days (after all that time converting the news to fahrenheit, I gave up and started thinking in celsius), but for most yanks the difference between the two systems is huge, and only associated with science. It doesn't translate that the room temperature you measured in lab (22.5C) is 72F. The two measurement systems just do not abut each other at any point, there's a huge separation between the two in most people's brains.

...I think tomorrow I'll ask my chemistry lecturers.

[katarik.livejournal.com]

212 F, and I didn't look either, but then again I have to think in Fahrenheit: part of my job is taking temperatures.

[sennical.livejournal.com]

I know it's 200-something, but boiling point's just not something I think about unless I'm thinking scientific, in which case duh, Celsius.

Freezing, OTOH, 32F. That something that actually affects my daily life sometimes.

[bad-mushroom.livejournal.com]

I second sennical's comment. I wouldn't use the boiling point of water for anything unless it was scientific, and then I would be use Centigrade because it makes much more sense. I do, however, know the freezing point of water in Fahrenheit very, very well :)

[dubiously.livejournal.com]

I would hope that's not common, but then again, American educational system is very hit or miss. In my experience, people are either generally knowledgeable (because we willfully absorb information through alternate means) or ... idk. You get the myspace and youtube commenter class of education. I believe it takes an active desire to learn here, at least the school system I went through. It's very disappointing, imo. And then other folks tell me I have my standards set too high. :/