(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

[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.