• jerkface
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    1 year ago

    It doesn’t “make sense” in a day to day sense. It made sense to researchers first investigating the properties of heat and temperature. 0F is a benchmark temperature that can be reliably produced with a mixture of water, ice and salt. The mixture will moderate itself by melting the ice such that the temperature stays at exactly 0F until the ice all melts. Why 1/180 the interval between freezing and boiling was chosen for the value of one degree, I dunno, but it’s probably similar to the reasons we use 360 degrees.

    • Ratys
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      1 year ago

      Celsius is the same, except with just water and ice - you don’t need to get some salt concentration right to reliably reproduce the zero, eliminating that as a variable. “Moderating itself until ice melts” is just something water does, no salt required.

      • jerkface
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, I’ve always wondered why they didn’t want to just use a frigorific slush without salt. I’m guessing that the salt version is more robust about maintaining its temperature, or it lasts longer, or something like that.

      • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You can’t have water reliably below freezing without something like salt to keep it liquid? 0F is not serving the same purpose as 0C is. Not making an argument, just pointing out that they’re specifically after a liquid mixture that is below freezing for cooling things down to below freezing in times before refrigeration.