this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2024
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In my new scale, °X, 0 is Earths' record lowest surface temperature, 50 is the global average, and 100 is the record highest, with a linear scale between each point and adjustment every year as needed.

https://explainxkcd.com/3001/

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 2 months ago (1 children)

LOL, the original Celsius scale really is 10/0 cursed.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Dividing by zero

still makes more sense to me than a lower-number-means-warmer-temperature scale.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I am very surprised that Rankine gets such a high cursedness score. Isn't it just the same as Kelvin but based on Fahrenheit instead of Celsius?

[–] [email protected] 68 points 2 months ago (24 children)

Because it implies you are using US Costumary/Imperial units for science or "fancy" engineering.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

The other scores seem to be more about inherent cursedness, not simply 'there is a far better option'.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yes, but if you have to convert from Fahrenheit to another scale anyways, why in the hell would you not just go straight to Kelvin?!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Converting between Kelvin and Celsius is simple addition; converting between Rankine and Fahrenheit is simple addition. Converting between the two groups requires multiplication, and pre calculator, that's notably harder.

Also, all your kJ/kg/°C or BTU/lb/°F tables and factors are identical when you swap to referencing absolute zero. If you change to the other unit system, all that goes out the window.

[–] Raptorox 6 points 2 months ago

Fahrenheit stacks I guess

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 months ago (1 children)

After joking about this at work, I landed on the most cursed scale I could think of... pT = log10 FPW.

Pros: no bottom to scale, increasing negative values asymptotically approach absolute zero. Water freezes at zero.

1 pT is almost exactly the melting point of iridium. Lightning bolts are around 2 pT. Boiling points of neon and helium are in the neighborhood of -1 and -2.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

At least that follows some mathematical logic. Mohs scale of hardness is pretty close to pT scale in that sense, but there’s no mathematics or logic involved. It’s just a list of standard materials that define specific points on the scale. When you compare the results with a more logical scale, it looks neatly non-linar at first glance, but the closer you look, the less sense it makes. It’s just a list of exceptions to whatever rule you may have had in mind.

Doesn’t mean it’s a useless scale. You can totally use it for qualitative assessment of hardness, but steer clear of it when numbers and decimals actually matter.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Real Celsius 10/0 , Galen | 4/-4

Lmfao. Surprised there isn't one that is something like sqrt(-1)/10. Probably something to do with E&M lol

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

You could totally make an extra cursed temperature scale. Randall proposed the °X scale, but maybe we can do better than that. That was pretty cursed because it defines three points based on statistics observed on of Earth and uses linear interpolation to connect the dots.

I propose an extra cursed system that uses completely fictional values. Let’s take -π as the melting point of unicorns and +GrahamsNumber as the peak temperature in the core of the hypothetical planet Vulcan. Between the two points you can fit any seventh degree polynomial you like in order to get the values that fit your needs. On Wednesdays you can use a sine wave too.

[–] Jakylla 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Mesuring temperature in radians: 3.14/π

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

Is that hot pie like on my grandma’s window sill? Or hot pie like where my grandma gave lap dances to put herself through law school?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Why isnt the list ordered by cursedness?

Galen has by far the lowest score and real Celsius the highest

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Can we count 10/0 as a big number? Or even just as a number.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

These scores a killing me

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

Solved global warming. Nice.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Non-linear temperature hurts my noggin

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I recommend staying in abstract then. Real world stuff like latent heat and state-changes might maky it boyle.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Meanwhile me measuring temperature with scale of pain

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

It’s about 2.7x I’m not leaving the house today. If it drops down to like 2.5x I might go check the mail.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I actually think a great compromise between c and f would be c x 2 so 200c is boiling point, all the benefits of c and f

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

Supposedly one of the main draws for fahrenheit is that common cold temperatures aren't negative, so this doesn't address that part.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

honestly why would someone care about that... common cold temperatures being negative makes more sense to me, i say this as an american.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

This is the point. Whether ice is likely to form is a very important aspect of weather.

Is it going snow instead of rain. Are the roads going to be treacherous. Will my water supply stop flowing.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I once read that circular thermometers were a thing and that's why fahrenheit has 180° between freezing and boiling.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

I think a degree F was 1/10,000 of the volume of mercury he happened to use in his first thermometer. The 180 was probably a coincidence because bimetal spring thermometers came along later.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I was positive that the Wedgwood scale had to be fictional but nope! That Josiah dude was WEIRD 😄

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think that meme is older than the Fediverse.

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