Fahrenheit scale is the scale for measuring temperature commonly used in the United States. It is also used in a few other countries, such as Belize and the Bahamas. Elsewhere, the Celsius scale has replaced the Fahrenheit scale (see Celsius scale ). The Celsius and the Kelvin scales are both used for scientific applications.
The German physicist Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, sometimes called Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, developed the scale. He assigned 0 °F to the temperature at which a mixture of water, ice, and ammonium chloride, a type of salt, are in equilibrium. In this case, equilibrium occurs when the solution neither freezes nor melts further. Fahrenheit then assigned three other reference points to his scale: the freezing point of water, the boiling point of water, and the average internal temperature of the human body. After adjustments by both Fahrenheit and later scientists, these temperatures became set at 32 °F, 212 °F, and 98.6 °F, respectively. Air temperatures across Earth vary over 200 Fahrenheit degrees. For example, temperatures in Antarctica can fall below –100 °F. Temperatures can exceed 130 °F in the Sahara.
To convert a Fahrenheit temperature to Celsius, subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit temperature. Then multiply by 5/9:
°C = 5/9 (°F – 32).
To change a Celsius temperature to Fahrenheit, multiply the Celsius temperature by 9/5. Then add 32:
°F = 9/5 °C + 32.
