Decoding Global Temperatures
Whether you are traveling internationally, following a foreign recipe, or studying physics, dealing with multiple temperature scales can be incredibly frustrating. Because temperature scales do not start at the same "zero," you cannot use simple multiplication to convert them.
Celsius (The Global Standard)
Used by almost every country on Earth, the Celsius scale is designed around the states of water. At sea level, water freezes at 0°C and boils at exactly 100°C.
Fahrenheit (The American System)
Used officially by the United States, Liberia, and the Cayman Islands. It was designed so that 0°F was the freezing point of a specific mixture of water, ice, and ammonium chloride, while 100°F was roughly the human body temperature. On this scale, water freezes at 32°F and boils at 212°F.
Kelvin (The Scientific Standard)
Used almost exclusively by scientists and engineers, the Kelvin scale does not use "degrees." It is an absolute thermodynamic scale where 0 K is Absolute Zero—the point at which all thermal energy in matter is completely removed. Water freezes at 273.15 K.