this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
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submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Are you telling me they were able to measure those things, but not the boiling and freezing point of water?

Sure, let me just whip up that ammonium chloride mixture and travel somewhere where I can get it close to freezing so I can know the zero reference of that scale. What, did the just carry that NH₄Cl around for convenience?

Fahrenheit was proposed in 1724, Celsius dates back to 1742, so there wasn't that much time between the two.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Boiling point of water varies based on atmospheric pressure, water boils at a lower temperature high up in the mountains, for example, which could be why the estimated human body temperature is set as a standard, because it is consistent to reproduce as long as there are people around.

The freezing point of water is not affected by atmospheric pressure, however, it is affected by dissolved material in the water. Using a saturate solution of a salt would establish that consistency as well as lower the freezing point to create a bigger temperature range.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Does ammonium chloride brine not freeze at different pressures?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

A bit of mistake I made there, I should say that the freezing point is relatively unaffected by pressure compared to the boiling point, and the amount of dissolved impurities are going to have a greater effect.