Q 01/05

In which year did Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit propose the temperature scale that bears his name?

A) 1742

B) 1799

C) 1776

D) 1724

Answer · why

D) 1724

He published it in Latin in the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions the same year he was elected a Fellow.

Q 02/05

At what temperature does water freeze on the Fahrenheit scale?

A) 10 F

B) 32 F

C) 0 F

D) 20 F

Answer · why

B) 32 F

On Fahrenheit's own first version ice water was 30 degrees; he moved it to 32 so that 64 intervals separated freezing from body temperature.

Q 03/05

At what temperature does water boil on the Fahrenheit scale at sea level?

A) 212 F

B) 180 F

C) 192 F

D) 200 F

Answer · why

A) 212 F

That puts freezing and boiling exactly 180 degrees apart, a number chosen partly because it divides so neatly.

Q 04/05

How many Fahrenheit degrees separate the freezing and boiling points of water?

A) 150

B) 120

C) 100

D) 180

Answer · why

D) 180

One Fahrenheit degree is therefore 5/9 of a Celsius degree.

Q 05/05

What did Fahrenheit use to fix the zero point of his original scale?

A) Snow packed under a bell jar

B) The melting point of mercury

C) A brine of ice, water and ammonium chloride

D) The coldest night in Amsterdam

Answer · why

C) A brine of ice, water and ammonium chloride

A German story says he really used the coldest winter air temperature in his home town of Danzig in 1708-09 and only later needed the brine to reprodu...