Celsius or centigrade, depicted as C, and Fahrenheit, depicted as F, are the two most widely used temperature scales and Kelvin is the third unit. Celsius is the most popular unit across the world compared to the other two but Fahrenheit is used as the more preferred unit, or the standard unit, in some countries like the United States.
Difference Between Celsius and Fahrenheit
1. Celsius or the centigrade scale uses 0 as the temperature when water freezes, known as freezing point, and 100 as the temperature when water starts to boil, known as boiling point. Fahrenheit uses 32 and 212 as the freezing point and boiling point respectively.
2. The Celsius unit is divided into hundred parts or subunits while the Fahrenheit unit is divided into one hundred eighty parts or subunits. There are of course decimals in every subunit.
3. It must be noted that the human body temperature on the Celsius scale is 37 degrees and 98.6 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale. When it was in its nascent phase, 90 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale was deemed as the body temperature but it was later revised to be pegged at 96 and further revised to be pegged at 98.6 degrees. Likewise, the freezing point as pegged on the Fahrenheit scale was 30 degrees which was later revised and adjusted to be 32 degrees. Such adjustments have not been known for the Celsius scale.
4. The Celsius unit is globally used to depict temperatures of substances and is the preferred unit for scientific studies or experiments. The Celsius unit is also used to measure weather in most countries. The Fahrenheit unit is used in some countries and is a preferred unit in thermometers. Although advanced or scientific thermometers used in experiments and labs use Celsius, the ones we use at home are likely to have Fahrenheit. Those used at clinics of physicians and doctors record temperature in Fahrenheit.
5. Fahrenheit was developed by Daniel Fahrenheit. The Celsius or centigrade scale was developed by Anders Celsius. Both temperatures can be easily converted in the other unit. For the conversion of Celsius to Fahrenheit, you should just use the formula F = 9/5C + 32. For the conversion of Fahrenheit to Celsius, you should use C = 5/9(F – 32).
6. As would be obvious, the Fahrenheit scale progresses disproportionately as compared to the Celsius scale because of more subunits or parts but the calibration also offers more room for more specific temperatures.
