Fahrenheit

views updated May 14 2018

Fahr·en·heit / ˈfarənˌhīt/ (abbr.: F) • adj. of or denoting a scale of temperature on which water freezes at 32° and boils at 212° under standard conditions.• n. (also Fahrenheit scale) this scale of temperature.ORIGIN: mid 18th cent.: named after Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), German physicist.

Fahrenheit temperature scale

views updated May 17 2018

Fahrenheit temperature scale System for measuring temperature based on the freezing point of water (32°F) and the boiling point of water (212°F). The interval between them is divided into 180 equal parts. Although replaced in Britain by Celsius, Fahrenheit is still used in the USA for nonscientific measurements. Fahrenheit is converted to Celsius by subtracting 32 and then dividing by 1.8. See also thermometer

Fahrenheit scale

views updated May 23 2018

Fahrenheit scale A temperature scale in which (by modern definition) the temperature of boiling water is taken as 212 degrees and the temperature of melting ice as 32 degrees. It was invented in 1714 by the German scientist G. D. Fahrenheit (1686–1736), who set the zero at the lowest temperature he knew how to obtain in the laboratory (by mixing ice and common salt) and took his own body temperature as 96°F. The scale is no longer in scientific use. To convert to the Celsius scale the formula is C = 5(F – 32)/9.

Fahrenheit

views updated May 29 2018

Fahrenheit of or denoting a scale of temperature on which water freezes at 32° and boils at 212° under standard conditions, named (in the mid 18th century) after Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), German physicist.

Fahrenheit

views updated May 29 2018

Fahrenheit mercurial thermometer named after its inventor, G. Fahrenheit (1686–1736), German physicist. XVIII.