Fahrenheit

Thermometer scale in which the freezing point of water is 32°F and the boiling point of water 212°F. The Fahrenheit scale is still obstinately in use in the US. This anachronism requires conversion from Centigrade (°C) to Fahrenheit (°F), and vice versa. One degree °C = (5/9)(°F - 32). One degree °F = (9/5)(°C) + 32. Named for Gabriel Fahrenheit, a German-Dutch physicist, who devised the scale in 1724. 0°F was the lowest temperature that Fahrenheit could obtain using a mixture of ice and salt.

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Gabriel D., German-Dutch physicist, 1686–1736. See F. scale.

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Fahr·en·heit 'far-ən-.hīt adj relating or conforming to a thermometric scale on which under standard atmospheric pressure the boiling point of water is at 212 degrees above the zero of the scale, the freezing point is at 32 degrees above zero, and the zero point approximates the temperature produced by mixing equal quantities by weight of snow and common salt abbr. F

Fahrenheit Daniel Gabriel (1686-1736)

German physicist. Fahrenheit devoted his career mostly to the making of precision scientific instruments. In 1709 he developed an alcohol thermometer, superseding it with a mercury thermometer in 1714. His most important achievement was his development, from the work of Olaus Roemer, of the thermometric scale that bears his name.