When did we start using temperatures in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit

[Pat Dolan]

60 MPH is handy...1 mile a minute. Now if we had 100 minutes in an hour, 100 kph would be 1 km per minute.

Back in my days with VW, an hour did indeed have 100 "minutes" or what we called time units. All of the work time allowances were set up that way, as were our time clocks. Made writing invoices and warranty claims fast, easy and accurate.

 

[vwestlife]

Back in my days with VW, an hour did indeed have 100 "minutes" or what we called time units. All of the work time allowances were set up that way, as were our time clocks. Made writing invoices and warranty claims fast, easy and accurate.

Lawyers also bill time in 1/10th of an hour units.

 

[Ski in NC]

Lawyers also bill time in 1/10th of an hour units.

I thought they rounded up to the next hour!!

 

[993er]

Lawyers also bill time in 1/10th of an hour units.

So did I as a flight instructor.

 

[2.2TDI]

1/10th of an hour is just a formality of braking up the hour.... 0.1 = 6 minutes... Don't know what that has to do with imperial vs metric

 

[MarcusW]

Exactly what I was thinking.... -40F = -40C either way its friggin cold!

I'd also agree with Don. Although, as a native of the US the Imperial system is what I use everyday, I'd much rather be using the metric system in daily life, it really is simple in comparison...

Except that Fahrenheit has nothing to do with the Imperial system I should add.

 

[Pat Dolan]

1/10th of an hour is just a formality of braking up the hour.... 0.1 = 6 minutes... Don't know what that has to do with imperial vs metric

Sim;le: 100 units in an hour makes a perfect "metric" hour. Of course, that would give us 36 seconds in a minute - but if we can live with 360 degrees in a single rotation, a metric minute could resolve some of the complexities of RPM calculations.

 

[track_warrior]

Exactly what I was thinking.... -40F = -40C either way its friggin cold!

I'd also agree with Don. Although, as a native of the US the Imperial system is what I use everyday, I'd much rather be using the metric system in daily life, it really is simple in comparison...

x1000000, i could not agree more.

 

[vwestlife]

I don't see anything wrong with the U.S.'s status quo of using the U.S./Imperial customary units in everyday life and Metric units in science, engineering, and international trade. Yes, it's two sets of units to learn, but Chinese children have no problem learning a language far more complex than our own, so I don't think it's a great burden on us to learn feet and pounds as well as meters and kilograms.

And the reason why the customary units have hung around so long is not just sheer tradition, but also the fact that they are more human-oriented. For example, a foot is pretty much the length of an adult male's foot, an inch is about the length between the tip of your index finger and the first knuckle, and with temperature in Fahrenheit, 0 degrees is really cold and 100 degrees is really hot. And even in Metric countries, bartenders still serve beer in pints and quarts.

 

[kjclow]

Seems strange that when I am out of the US all the bar glasses are marked in metric. Might look like a pint but the line is metric. Unless I'm at a traditional English or Irish pub where beers are served in English pints or about 20 ounces.

 

[nicklockard]

I don't see anything wrong with the U.S.'s status quo of using the U.S./Imperial customary units in everyday life and Metric units in science, engineering, and international trade. Yes, it's two sets of units to learn, but Chinese children have no problem learning a language far more complex than our own, so I don't think it's a great burden on us to learn feet and pounds as well as meters and kilograms.

And the reason why the customary units have hung around so long is not just sheer tradition, but also the fact that they are more human-oriented. For example, a foot is pretty much the length of an adult male's foot, an inch is about the length between the tip of your index finger and the first knuckle, and with temperature in Fahrenheit, 0 degrees is really cold and 100 degrees is really hot. And even in Metric countries, bartenders still serve beer in pints and quarts.

In many parts of Europe beer is served as half-liter or liter. And there is a scribe line on the glass to indicate quantity served.

 

[2.2TDI]

Yea I was going to say don't know anywhere in Europe where they measure in pint or ounce... I've seen most bottles labelled as 0,33 l for example or even 33 cl

 

[nicklockard]

Yup, 'vasser' and gas-vasser in 0.33L, beer in half liter or liter.

And 32 is really cold. Zero is 'why do I live here?' Cold.

 

[rotarykid]

"We" switched in April 1975, according to Wikipedia.

Evidently this is where things stand at the moment:

Technically in the US we switched to the metric system in 1963 when we set up metric to US system equivalents...

We were in 1976 supposed to switch in all regards in 1976 but congress passed a law to push the date forward so it never happened...

They kept telling us when I was in primary school we were about switch systems so I never learned the SAE measurements until I was in college.....

I to this day mainly use the metric system when dealing with auto diagnosis, repair, temps & other measurements. I also use metric on my gps.....I have to stop and figure to come up with the SAE figures for someone who refuses to learn the worlds' system. Our thermostats are in C, every measurement on our car is in native C measurement.......

Cars made by the big 3 long ago went metric for the most part on their fasteners in large part to make it easier to export their products....

Funny thing is the British don't even use this system anymore.....

In the UK they use a mishmash mix of metric and Imperial. They use C for temp, Litre for fuel, and Imperial measurements for distance & speedo. Most if not all of their manufacturing thankfully today is in the metric system......

It would be a lot easier for me at least if we would just do away with completely with the British system!! I look forward to the day when we do away with this silly system that makes no sense....

 

[Max Period]

The only thing I know about Fahrenhait is like this:

0 F: cold
50 F: warm
100 F: hot

 

[kjclow]

My additions in red

The only thing I know about Fahrenhait is like this:

0 F: cold. lots of clothing
50 F: warm. no coat
100 F: hot. no clothing

 

[Lug_Nut]

The only thing I know about Fahrenhait is like this:

0 F: cold
50 F: warm
100 F: hot

Fahrenheit
There, you now TWO things.

What I care to know:
>0 C = B99
>0 F, <0 C = B50
<0 F = B20

 

[VarmintSlayer]

I was about 10 when we went metric.

So I got strapped with yard sticks and metre(meter)sticks.

 

[993er]

Newsflash!

The Americans are finally adopting the liter, except it will be a US liter which will be at the same ratio as the US vs IMP gallon.

 

[JohnWilder]

Ah yes, it is so intuitive to understand that your engine produces 67,113 joules/sec or maybe 66.2 kilowatts. Your tires should be inflated to 220,632.32 Pascals and the fuel contains 40,413.864.79 Joules per liter of heat energy. Ah yes, the metric system is heaven.

 

[993er]

Ah yes, the metric system is heaven.

You got it!

 

[GoFaster]

Ah yes, it is so intuitive to understand that your engine produces 67,113 joules/sec or maybe 66.2 kilowatts. Your tires should be inflated to 220,632.32 Pascals and the fuel contains 40,413.864.79 Joules per liter of heat energy. Ah yes, the metric system is heaven.

Arbitrary measured amounts are no more or less intuitive regardless of the measurement system used.

I can tell you that 66 kW = 66,000 J/s = 66,000 N.m/s and that's the product of force (N) and speed (m/s). If the speed in question is (say) 33 m/s then the force is 2000 N if the power is 66 kW. No conversion factors to remember. All math done in my head.

 

[nicklockard]

0F is stupid cold, 50F is either bone chilling or warm depending on humidity, 100 is either warm or scorching hot depending on humidity...temperature in degrees in C are equally irrelevant to human experiences.

I think we should discuss the dew point instead when talking about temperature and comfort levels.

 

[rotarykid]

0F is stupid cold, 50F is either bone chilling or warm depending on humidity, 100 is either warm or scorching hot depending on humidity...temperature in degrees in C are equally irrelevant to human experiences.

I think we should discuss the dew point instead when talking about temperature and comfort levels.

so true......

In Colorado 50 (10C) in the sunshine can be pretty comfortable. While you can freeze your &$$ off in the Carolina's in the high 50s to low 60s(12-15C).....

It is so wet in the carolina's that 5 mins in a snow storm soaks you to the bone! While in colorado it is so dry you can spend a couple of hours in a snow storm and still not get wet....

Comfort temp comes down to sunshine or not and humidity along with the saturation point......what they report as the dew point...

 

[vwestlife]

0F is stupid cold, 50F is either bone chilling or warm depending on humidity, 100 is either warm or scorching hot depending on humidity...temperature in degrees in C are equally irrelevant to human experiences.

But at least Fahrenheit gives you a 100 degree range in which to measure the typical human experience of temperature, while Celcius squishes that down to only about a 50 degree range, 30% of which is in negative numbers.