this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2023
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago (9 children)

Since when is 0°C "fairly cold" it's literally freezing.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

0°C is completely fine with jeans and a thick jacket, especially when it's sunny and there isn't much wind. It's cold, but there's probably not much ice or snow, if anything, probably mostly slush.

Compared to say -20 C where you should have a good ski jacket and ski pants, warm shoes and socks, generally multiple layers everywhere, winter gloves and so on.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It can be -20 C and you can be still fine with jeans and a jacket if it isn't windy.

What I'm saying is temperature alone doesn't tell you the whole story.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, part of why they also have "comfort" or "feels like" in forecasts besides the actual termperature.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

But so is 100°F completely fine with a shirt and shorts and some shade.

So basically: |0°F| > |100°F|, where | is the mathematical absolute operator.

0°F is really cold, while 100°F is merely somewhat hot.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Humidity. I'm guessing you don't live in a humid place because freezing temps are horrifically cold here. You will need a winter coat and multiple layers of your going to be outside for a while. I layer long Johns under my pants and wear my parka and a light jacket as well as 2 layers of socks. Everytime a northerner comes here they are shocked at the cold/heat. That's because the air here is full of water to the point that you will actually get wet just from the humidity, not even sweating.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago

It is also literally melting.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been in -37C snow shoveling. Since then 0C doesn't even register as cold to me

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Yep, and I've been in 110C in sauna. It's pretty fucking hot but not death

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

I think more that if it's 100c outside the planet is basically dead.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm pretty sure you mean 110°F, don't you?

110°C = 230°F
110°F = 43°C

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No. Finnish sauna is usually around 80°C to 90°C, but sometimes crazy people do over 100°C. The starting temp in sauna competitions was 110°C

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I just read that wikipedia article, and man, those saunas are crazy. I guess they really did mean °C.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

You go to 43C sauna?? Lmao

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Have you ever been to a sauna..?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

110°F is a very cold sauna.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If a sauna is 110F I'm leaving because that thing is broken

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah I read spa for some reason and was thinking water temperature.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

The northern half of the US laughs

[–] ricecake 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The temperature that water freezes at is only fairly cold weather by a lot of people's perception.
I'd call it "chilly". No jacket for running to the mailbox, or if I'll be outside for half an hour or so. Light jacket otherwise. I don't expect it to snow, since it's not actually cold enough usually, and there won't be ice on the ground unless it's just warmed up.

So it might be "freezing", but that doesn't make it cold.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's almost like being 'fairly cold for humans' is a wide range, and subjective, therefore useless as a baseline.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well I'd say that's why op chose the adverb "fairly", it gets across that it's a wide range and lacks specificity.

Not completely useless as a baseline, but fairly general.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Obviously the freezing point of water is also a range (depending on purity, altitude, etc) but would you say it's less, or more specific?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Compared with the human experience of "cold"? More specific, even when talking about ocean water and water on mountains or whatever altitude water you're talking about.

[–] ricecake 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

True, but that's also not super relevant to the merits of a temperature scale. Fahrenheit isn't actually based off of human subjective temperature perception, it just coincidentally lines up a bit closer with the comfortable range for people in northern temperate climates.

Before it's redefinition in terms of Celsius, fahrenheit was defined by a particular temperature stable brine solution (easy to replicate for calibration), and with the freezing and boiling points of water set to be 180 degrees apart, because of the relationship with a circle.

People decided we liked base10 adherence more than trigonometry, and then everyone adopted Celsius, so we should use Celsius. Doesn't make fahrenheit some sort of random scale, just deprecated.

[–] yata 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The most common defence of Fahrenheit are Americans saying it is the most suited for humans because 0 is "very cold" and 100 "very hot". That is why people are referencing it with regards to the merits of a temperature scale in this thread.

[–] ricecake 1 points 1 year ago

Oh, I know. I was just agreeing that it would be a crap way to design a system, but that doesn't also mean that it's not reasonable for a lot of people to feel like it fits better.

It's design is as specific as Celsius and it's only coincidentally lines up with northern temperate.
Preferring 10 degree temperature intervals to 5 degree intervals is a silly reason to give up compatibility, but people have their preferences.

It's not like we don't teach metric in schools, or label everything in metric.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

In Aus we say it's fucking freezing

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Many places in the US, particularly in the East and Midwest, experience average temperatures at or below freezing (32°F) in the winter, so while it's definitely cold, it's often not considered really cold. It's not until you move further towards 0 and the negatives that most people in that area feel really cold (like weather advisory levels). Of course the further north you go, the more normal those temps are. Likewise, it's definitely not unheard of for temps to hit 100°F (37°C) in the Southwest, but it would be considered pretty hot for much of the country, and even Texas suffers at sustained temps like that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Freezing temps here are definitely considered very cold. Cold enough that you need multiple layers and you should be wrapping your pipes to prevent freezing. It's very humid here. Our freezing is insanely cold. Like chills you to your bones cold. Our hot here is insanely hot as well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I would put it at a 3/10

[–] can 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're failing at pretending to be human. We're literally made of water. About 80% of us is water.

[–] can 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I knew someone would say this. We don't freeze solid at 0 Celsius however.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Only pure water freezes at 0C. And human bodies aren't going to reach 0C while alive. What point is it you're trying to make with your statement that we don't freeze solid at 0C?

[–] CookieJarObserver 0 points 1 year ago

Everything about -10 is warm.