Being hopeless at French, German and Spanish, I thought perhaps I could become fluent in Celsius.
All I know so far is that 15C = roughly 60F, so wonder if anyone has any helpful conversion tips? <i>Please</i> don't tell me anything having to do with 5/9!!

Thanks in advance--

Double the temperature in celcius... take the result and subtract the 1st digit... then add 32...

So... 15 degrees x 2 = 30... 30 - 3 = 27... 27 + 32 = 59.

30 degrees x 2 = 60... 60 - 6 = 54... 54 + 32 = 86.

No fractions required...

actually, there is a rough algorithm which is easier than the above.

Just double the centigrade and add 30. It's pretty close.

ie, 25C = 50+30=80F
20C=40+30=70F
15C=30+30=60F

this rough method is more accurate in midrange temps, and gets off more about 80F. But it isn't that far off. It's just as accurate as the above suggestion for around 15-20C and then is only off by a couple degrees.

I've always used the double the celsius and add 30 formula.

Christina,

I agree with your method... at the extremes, you could be off by 5 degrees or so, but it's a decent rough estimate.

The question is... do you want to be FLUENT in Celcius? or, do you just want to be able to order a beer or find the restroom in Celcius?

You'll find that the wide variety of Celsius dialects confounds understanding, as well. To someone from Orkney, 15 is balmy, in Mallorca, it's winter. That's why it's best to learn with a tutor from the area you plan to visit.

Or you could plot the function as a linear equation in slope-intercept form, <i>y</i> = <i>mx</i> + <i>b</i>, where

<i>y</i> = Fahrenheit
<i>m</i> = 9/5
<i>x</i> = Celsius
<i>b</i> = 32

This is shown graphically at http://www.mathhelpforum.com/math-he...m-picture6.gif

Don't worry about trying to do the math. Here's my handy conversion: 20-25 degrees Celsius is very comfortable, and 30 degrees Celsius is too dadgum hot.

Thank you all! Since I'll never be FLUENT in anything, will be pleased to get the beer and know if it's to warm up or cool off. (Just don't tell me the distance to the restroom in metric!)

You should have been in Phoenix on June 26, 1990. Would you believe 50&deg;C?

Every 5 degrees Celsius is 9 degrees Farenheit....Celsius starts at 0 and Farenheit starts at 32...

so take the Celsius temperature, divide by 5, multiply by 9 and add 32....piece of cake

10 degrees celsius, divide by 5 is 2 multiply by 9 is 18 add 32 and we get 50

20 degrees celsius, divide by 5, gives 4 myltiply by 9 36 add 32 68...

23 degrees celsius, divide by 5, 4.6 multiply by 9, 41 add 32 is 73.(actually 73.4 but good enough)

37 degrees celsius, divide by 5, 7.4 multiply by 9 which is 66.6 add 32 98.6 (a number we should all be familiar with!)

Of course, if the USA would get off its you know what, join the rest of the world and embrace the world standard (Celsius and metric measurements) none of this would be necessary!

Ah yes...beer...

Our friends the Brits (that is if we have any friends left after what we did to the world economy) still sell beer by the pint and half pint. As well as still using miles on the road signs (I think they still use inches, feet and yards although wouldn't swear to it) makes England almost understandable.

BTW, speaking of our friends in Britain, the pound has crashed through the $1.70 level and is now trading at

&pound;1 = $1.68929

Almost makes a trip to London cheap (note I said almost!)...used to thinking of doubling the UK price to come up with the US equivalent...at this rate it'll soon be 3:2 (and it's only a decade ago that I started to visit London regularly, it was $1.40!)

Now if only the Bank of England can keep inflation under control...

Forget all that conversion nonsense.

0 is brass monkeys
5 is cold
10 is cool
15 is mild
20 is warm
25 is hot
30 and above is too hot.

S'easy.

Alternatively, you could avoid the problem entirely by vacationing in a place that has a constant temperature of -40 degrees, which is the same on either scale.

bookmarking

Hi ny,

0 = freezing
5 = damned cold
10 = very cold
15 = cold
20 = pleasantly cool
25 = pleasantly warm
30 = rather warm
35 = hot
40 = damned hot

Celcius times 1.8...plus 32 equals Fahrenheit.

Or... Fahrenheit..minus 32...and divided by 1.8 equals Celcius. I memorized the above over 30 years ago and it's embedded in my memory. Smiles. Happy Travels!

To be fluent in units of measure, you have to use them, not convert them. If you want to be comfortable with Celsius temperatures, use Celsius regularly instead of Fahrenheit. Do not convert between the two, just do everything in Celsius.

The same philosophy, incidentally, also applies to learning languages.