[Mrs. Don-o]

"Correction May 18, 2015 - In an earlier version of this post, we incorrectly note that 5 degrees Celsius is roughly equivalent to 9 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, it is equivalent to 41 degrees Fahrenheit"

I think they were right the first time. 5^o C is 41^oF. but a five-degree C difference in temp = an 8-degree F. difference in temp.

I know that is true but I can't think of an easy way to explain it. Would one of you science-thinky people jump in and enlighten us?.

[Red Badger]

The difference is in absolute value.

5°C = 41°F as an absolute value.

As a DIFFERENCE value, 5 Celsius degrees is roughly equivalent to 9 Fahrenheit degrees...............

Example:

20°C = 68°F
25°C = 77°F

Ergo

A 5°C DIFFERENCE = a 9°F DIFFERENCE...............

[kosciusko51]

Temperature:

5 C = 41 F
0 C = 32 F

=> Temperature difference = 5 C - 0 C = 5 C(delta) = 41 F - 32 F = 9 F(delta), where delta mean difference in temperature.

[katana]

Maybe the easiest way to explain it is that the difference between the freezing and boiling temperatures of water in Fahrenheit is 180 degrees F (212° - 32°). The Celsius scale is based on that difference and it’s 100°C (0° freezing and 100° boiling). So the proportional difference is 100 vs. 180, or 5/9. That doesn’t really help much doing a conversion, but it at least explains why the separation between degrees of temperature in Celsius is larger. Frankly, it’s enough to know that 22C is perfect, anything over 28 is warm to uncomfortably hot, and if there’s a minus in there don’t freak out unless it’s in double digits.