Definition:Temperature/Scales

Definition
There are several scales against which temperature is measured.

Each one has two reference points.


 * Celsius
 * $\cels$
 * $-273.15 \cels$
 * $0 \cels$
 * $99.9839 \cels$


 * Fahrenheit
 * $\fahr$
 * $-459.67 \fahr$
 * $32 \fahr$
 * $211.9710 \fahr$


 * Kelvin
 * $\mathrm K$
 * $0 \ \mathrm K$
 * $273.15 \ \mathrm K$
 * $373.1339 \ \mathrm K$


 * Rankine
 * $\rankine$
 * $0 \rankine$
 * $491.67 \rankine$
 * $671.641 \rankine$

There are others.

As a general rule, only Kelvin is used in physics nowadays.

Celsius is usually used in the domestic context, for weather reporting and so on, in most nations, and sometimes seen in the teaching of physics, but usually at the most elementary levels in schools.

Fahrenheit is still used as the official temperature scale only in the US and Belize, although can still be seen on occasion in the contexts of weather reporting and health monitoring in the UK.

The Rankine scale is used in a few specialist engineering applications in the US and Canada.