547
xkcd #3001: Temperature Scales
(xkcd.com)
LOL, the original Celsius scale really is 10/0 cursed.
Dividing by zero 😱
Dividing by zero
still makes more sense to me than a lower-number-means-warmer-temperature scale.
Solved global warming. Nice.
After joking about this at work, I landed on the most cursed scale I could think of... pT = log10 FPW.
Pros: no bottom to scale, increasing negative values asymptotically approach absolute zero. Water freezes at zero.
1 pT is almost exactly the melting point of iridium. Lightning bolts are around 2 pT. Boiling points of neon and helium are in the neighborhood of -1 and -2.
At least that follows some mathematical logic. Mohs scale of hardness is pretty close to pT scale in that sense, but there’s no mathematics or logic involved. It’s just a list of standard materials that define specific points on the scale. When you compare the results with a more logical scale, it looks neatly non-linar at first glance, but the closer you look, the less sense it makes. It’s just a list of exceptions to whatever rule you may have had in mind.
Doesn’t mean it’s a useless scale. You can totally use it for qualitative assessment of hardness, but steer clear of it when numbers and decimals actually matter.
I am very surprised that Rankine gets such a high cursedness score. Isn't it just the same as Kelvin but based on Fahrenheit instead of Celsius?
Because it implies you are using US Costumary/Imperial units for science or "fancy" engineering.
The other scores seem to be more about inherent cursedness, not simply 'there is a far better option'.
load more comments
(23 replies)
Yes, but if you have to convert from Fahrenheit to another scale anyways, why in the hell would you not just go straight to Kelvin?!
Converting between Kelvin and Celsius is simple addition; converting between Rankine and Fahrenheit is simple addition. Converting between the two groups requires multiplication, and pre calculator, that's notably harder.
Also, all your kJ/kg/°C or BTU/lb/°F tables and factors are identical when you swap to referencing absolute zero. If you change to the other unit system, all that goes out the window.
Fahrenheit stacks I guess
Why isnt the list ordered by cursedness?
Galen has by far the lowest score and real Celsius the highest
Can we count 10/0 as a big number? Or even just as a number.
no
NaN
I actually think a great compromise between c and f would be c x 2 so 200c is boiling point, all the benefits of c and f
load more comments
(3 replies)
Real Celsius 10/0 , Galen | 4/-4
Lmfao. Surprised there isn't one that is something like sqrt(-1)/10. Probably something to do with E&M lol
You could totally make an extra cursed temperature scale. Randall proposed the °X scale, but maybe we can do better than that. That was pretty cursed because it defines three points based on statistics observed on of Earth and uses linear interpolation to connect the dots.
I propose an extra cursed system that uses completely fictional values. Let’s take -π as the melting point of unicorns and +GrahamsNumber as the peak temperature in the core of the hypothetical planet Vulcan. Between the two points you can fit any seventh degree polynomial you like in order to get the values that fit your needs. On Wednesdays you can use a sine wave too.
Mesuring temperature in radians: 3.14/π
Is that hot pie like on my grandma’s window sill? Or hot pie like where my grandma gave lap dances to put herself through law school?
I once read that circular thermometers were a thing and that's why fahrenheit has 180° between freezing and boiling.
I think a degree F was 1/10,000 of the volume of mercury he happened to use in his first thermometer. The 180 was probably a coincidence because bimetal spring thermometers came along later.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Non-linear temperature hurts my noggin
I recommend staying in abstract then. Real world stuff like latent heat and state-changes might maky it boyle.
These scores a killing me
Meanwhile me measuring temperature with scale of pain
maybe that's just the Galen scale. subjective units of distress!
It’s about 2.7x I’m not leaving the house today. If it drops down to like 2.5x I might go check the mail.
I was positive that the Wedgwood scale had to be fictional but nope! That Josiah dude was WEIRD 😄
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2024
547 points (98.8% liked)
xkcd
8722 readers
111 users here now
A community for a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS