Re: Metric Time (was Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique))
Morten Welinder (terra@diku.dk)
16 Oct 1995 09:45:41 GMT
ruhl@phoebe.cair.du.edu (Robert A. Uhl) writes:
> Also, Fahrenheit degrees go from 0 (freezing point of alcohol) to
>100 (supposed ave. human body temp.). Good ol' fahrenheit was of by
>1.4 for the body temp. so we are all at 98.6. Oh well. Every child
>learns 32 = freezing and 98.6 = good. I actually used the freezing
>point of alcohol last winter; I have a fridge in my then-uninsulated
>garage which held a lot of beer. My mother was worried that'd it all
>freeze. But, since the odds of <0 temps. are low, I was able to tell
>her not to worry. The Imperial system works again!
If the object was to get her not to worry, your Imperial system worked.
Beer does not freeze at the same temperature as pure alcohol, however.
(Consider the thought experiment of dropping one bottle of vodka in
the water as high north as you can sail -- that won't cause the ice
there to melt even though the temperature is well above alcohol's
freezing point.)
As an aside I could mention that Celcius degrees is not the unit used
in SI. Kelvin (_not_ "degrees Kelvin") is used there.
Morten
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