• jerkface@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    It doesn’t “make sense” in a day to day sense. It made sense to researchers first investigating the properties of heat and temperature. 0F is a benchmark temperature that can be reliably produced with a mixture of water, ice and salt. The mixture will moderate itself by melting the ice such that the temperature stays at exactly 0F until the ice all melts. Why 1/180 the interval between freezing and boiling was chosen for the value of one degree, I dunno, but it’s probably similar to the reasons we use 360 degrees.

    • Ratys@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Celsius is the same, except with just water and ice - you don’t need to get some salt concentration right to reliably reproduce the zero, eliminating that as a variable. “Moderating itself until ice melts” is just something water does, no salt required.