“How cold will it be tomorrow?”
....is probably the question the public asks the most to meteorologists. “Do I need to wear my jacket to work? Should I put on the AC?” Society takes for granted everything that happens in the atmosphere that eventually produces the temperature they feel outside.So first things first What is temperature?Formally, Temperature is defined as the average kinetic energy, or the average speed, of the molecules of a substance. There are three basic ways scientists measure this: Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin.Kelvin is the most logical as 0 Kelvin (Absolute Zero) is the measure of temperature when all molecular motion ceases to exist. However, no one says answers the question with “It’s 293 K outside!” This temperature scale was created by William Thompson. He felt that it was necessary to have a scale marking zero as something that is “infinitely cold”. To make things easier he made the same interval as Celsius. Any calculation that is done in physics uses Kelvin. Though the Celsius Scale and Kelvin Scale are in the same interval, not all calculations work in Celsius. Almost ALL calculations will work in Kelvin though. (Sidebar: The unit Kelvin does not have degrees like more common temperature scales. It is simply 273K, not 273ºK)Celsius is the most used temperature scale used worldwide. This scale to makes 0ºC the freezing point of water and 100ºC the boiling point of water. Since water vapor is arguably the most important substance in our atmosphere, it makes sense that most people use this scale.Lastly, there is Fahrenheit. 32ºF is the freezing point of water and 212ºF is the boiling point of water. A scientist named Daniel Fahrenheit created this scale by creating a brine that is equal parts salt and water. 0ºF is the freezing point of this brine. The upper scale used to create the interval was his best guess of the average human body temperature of 96ºF. Now it’s simply defined by the freezing and boiling point of water. Somehow this just seems more accurate.Below is a scale of how these temperatures relate to each other.
So now that you know the different Scales of Temperature.... we can move on to more things about temperature. Again, you may not see the light in this post, but trust me, It’s one more way we are making our unpredictable world, a little more predictable.
