Its cold, but the NY Post should have used Google to convert C to F

[BWV]

Oymyakon is cold, but not that cold

Kids have been sent home from school over fears they could freeze to death after temperatures plunged to a bone-chilling minus 140°F in the world’s coldest town.

Temperatures have dipped so low in the far-flung village of Oymyakon in the Russian region of Yakutia that hot water instantly turns to ice when flung in the air – making for a dramatic display

https://nypost.com/2021/12/03/fears-children-could-freeze-to-death-in-worlds-coldest-town/here is the Sun article they credited but failed to convert the temps

Thermometers in the Siberian outpost have been shattered this week as temperatures plummeted to minus 60°C according to a reading at the area's library.

Pupils aged up to 11 in Oymyakon are expected to study until thermometers drop to minus 53°C.

Older students must stay in their classes until the mercury hits minus 55°C.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/4196960/fears-children-freeze-temperatures-drop/The Siberian village Oymyakon is the coldest inhabited place on earth, excluding some Antarctic stations

 

[fresh_42]

I think they converted it. They turned 60°C into 140°F and added the minus sign afterward. Not the smartest move. A nice example that affine linear isn't linear.

 

[Mondayman]

I kept Omyakon, Verkhoyansk, and Yakutsk on my weather app during a few Winters when I was working outside. I would show the guys to remind them that -35 isn't too bad to work in. I remember one day in Verkhoyansk it was -68 C with the wind chill, or something like that.

 

[BWV]

I kept Omyakon, Verkhoyansk, and Yakutsk on my weather app during a few Winters when I was working outside. I would show the guys to remind them that -35 isn't too bad to work in. I remember one day in Verkhoyansk it was -68 C with the wind chill, or something like that.

Although you don't get wind at those temps there - read something about the relation between temp, wind and air pressure so there is a threshold temp below which you can’t have much wind

 

[berkeman]

Yet another good reason to memorize that -40C = -40F.

 

[fresh_42]

Yet another good reason to memorize that -40C = -40F.

I like 100°C = 212°F because it allows me to deconstruct the formula:

0°C=32°F must be subtracted to get rid of the ugly digits,
then we have 180, which obviously has to be divided by 9,
remains times 5.

 

[BWV]

Or, like the Post writer - obviously no mathematical genius - should have done, just Google ‘ -60C to F ‘

Remembering unit conversions with ubiquitous access to the Internet is about as useful as being adept at manually multiplying large numbers

 

[fresh_42]

Or, like the Post writer - obviously no mathematical genius - should have done, just Google ‘ -60C to F ‘

Remembering unit conversions with ubiquitous access to the Internet is about as useful as being adept at manually multiplying large numbers

It keeps the mind busy. And I hate changing the media.

 

[gmax137]

It keeps the mind busy. And I hate changing the media.

Me too. If I had to stop and search everytime I need to punch a factor into my calculator, I would never get done.
3.1416
5280, 1760, 1440
32.2 (32.17)
3.413
7.48 (7.48052)
62.4
24*60*3600
1748
etc.

 

[collinsmark]

I like 100°C = 212°F because it allows me to deconstruct the formula:

0°C=32°F must be subtracted to get rid of the ugly digits,
then we have 180, which obviously has to be divided by 9,
remains times 5.

Indeed.

Knowing
0°C = 32°F
100°C = 212°F

gives you two points: (0°C, 32°F), (100°C, 212°F)

Then it's just a matter of finding $m$ and $b$ for
$y = mx + b$

where $m$ is the rise over the run (i.e., "slope"), and $b$ is the y-intercept.

I never remember the formula, and do this each and every time I convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit or vise-versa.

Also, if I'm ever I'm tutoring anybody in basic algebra, I invariably use this as a real-world, everyday example of why algebra is important.

 

[hutchphd]

I like 100°C = 212°F because it allows me to deconstruct the formula:

I much prefer the 40Deg reference. Then the conversion algorithm is more symmetric

1. add 40
2. scale ##\frac 9 5 ~or~\frac 5 9##
3. subtract 40

 

[fresh_42]

I much prefer the 40Deg reference. Then the conversion algorithm is more symmetric

1. add 40
2. scale $\frac 9 5 ~or~\frac 9 5$
3. subtract 40

Guess $30$ would be closer.

My nephew asked me yesterday: "I can understand 0 and 100 for Celcius although it's still a bit made-up. But how did it come that Fahrenheit is so different?"

I had no idea and had to look it up (-17 °C sth. was the coldest temperature he could achieve by the means of his time and what he took as 0). By this, I also discovered that Fahrenheit was German, which was less surprising by the name as it was why Americans still stick with it.

At least I knew and could tell that C,F,K aren't the only scales and that Celsius originally had it reverse:, boiling at 0 and freezing at 100.

 

[collinsmark]

My nephew asked me yesterday: "I can understand 0 and 100 for Celcius although it's still a bit made-up. But how did it come that Fahrenheit is so different?"

Just tell him to remember this:

$$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|} \hline 0^\circ \ \mathrm{F} & \mathrm{Fahrenheit} & 100^\circ \ \mathrm{F} \\ \hline \mathrm{Really \ cold \ outside} & & \mathrm{Really \ hot \ outside} \\ \hline 0^\circ \ \mathrm{C} & \mathrm{Celsius} & 100^\circ \ \mathrm{C} \\ \hline \mathrm{Fairly \ cold \ outside} & & \mathrm{Dead} \\ \hline 0 \ \mathrm{K} & \mathrm{Kelvin} & 100 \ \mathrm{K} \\ \hline \mathrm{Dead} & & \mathrm{Dead} \\ \hline \end{array}$$

 

[Wrichik Basu]

They really messed up the units. Later in the article, at one place, it is written, and I quote,

“The temperature today is minus 140°C, it’s very cold and we are not at school, though lessons continue by Zoom,” Sayaana said.

Can anyone be alive at -140°C?

It seems that some automated feed published the story from the original article. And since in the original story, the minus is written in words rather than as a sign, the bot just took those numbers, converted them into °F, and published it.

 

[George Jones]

Why convert at all. The U.S. should should use Celsius, like the rest of the world.

 

[hutchphd]

Why convert at all. The U.S. should should use Celsius, like the rest of the world.

Fahrenheit is a much better scale for human beings. Otherwise the choice is completely arbitrary (unless it is an absolute scale such as Kelvin or Rankine).

Fahrenheit Forever.

 

[fresh_42]

Fahrenheit is a much better scale for human beings. Otherwise the choice is completely arbitrary (unless it is an absolute scale such as Kelvin or Rankine).

Fahrenheit Forever.

Nonsense. Delisle should be the one and only!

 

[George Jones]

Why convert at all. The U.S. should should use Celsius, like the rest of the world.

While I believe the above statement, in order to moderate this statement somewhat, I am going to stray off topic.

My country, Canada, has been metric in principle for decades, but is still not metric in practice for all things. Temperature in Celsius is familiar to almost everyone. Distance between towns/cities in kilometres is familiar to almost everyone. Many folks are not familiar with "weight"/mass in kilograms. Distances from a fraction of a centimetre to several metres often are quoted in feet and inches.

An amusing example of the last. At the beginning of this semester, I introduced second-year lab students to oscilloscopes. I drew a grid on the board, and said that these major gridlines had 1-centimetre spacing on the face of the 'scope. When the students started using the 'scopes, these second-year students asked "which of theses lines are separated by 1 centimetre?" I asked "How big is a centimetre?" They didn't know. When I asked "How big is an inch?" they easily held finger and thumb with separation of approximately one inch! I grew up during the transition, but these 19- and 20-years should have ingested centimetres along with their baby milk!

 

[gmax137]

Why convert at all. The U.S. should should use Celsius, like the rest of the world.

OK - will do, as soon as you all get with it and speak english instead of that legacy gibberish of yours. German? French? Mandarin? come on, really. /sarc

 

[Algr]

Learning Celsius is easy. Here is how it should be taught:

40° = Really hot
20-30° = Nice weather
10° = Wear a jacket
0° = Ice and snow.

Anything else = look it up when you encounter it.

This is actually how we learn fahrenheit as children. Start with what you really need in daily life, and expand into edge cases. Do math and conversion tables last, if at all. It's the conversion tables that makes people think that metric is hard.