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To: Moltke
"I’ve [pointed out supressed zeros] a few times and received some very weird responses...*sigh*"

Back in the '60s (that's 1960's to you newbees) I had a boss who absolutely forbade suppressed zeros in engineering reports. I've mostly followed that rule since then. a problem exists with temperatures, though. There is zero C, zero F, zero K, and zero R. None of these is usually helpful. I also learned from him that it is extremely easy to record a thermometer reading, and extremely difficult to measure the temperature of something.

21 posted on 02/02/2013 8:45:23 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: norwaypinesavage
norwaypinesavage said: "... extremely difficult to measure the temperature of something. "

Probably the main reason for this is that "temperature" is not a conserved quantity.

Under controlled circumstances, where only non-nuclear reactions are involved, ENERGY is conserved, not temperature. If the volume of a quantity of gas is allowed to expand, the temperature will fall. If such a volume is decreased, temperature will rise. Energy must move out of or into the volume of gas to accomplish the volume change.

It would be ridiculous to try to assign one temperature to such a changing situation.

22 posted on 02/02/2013 10:28:43 AM PST by William Tell
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To: norwaypinesavage

Not to go off on too many tangents in this thread, but the only meaningful temperature scale that need concern us is, of course, the Kelvin scale. Celsius, Fahrenheit, Réaumur et al. are pegged to spurious observations or of arbitrary definition, and are of no greater consequence (though the use of the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales are convenient in our daily lives by way of familiarity - all the other scales have gone the way of the Dodo...).


27 posted on 02/02/2013 12:21:29 PM PST by Moltke ("I am Dr. Sonderborg," he said, "and I don't want any nonsense.")
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