Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures are exactly the same only at -40 degrees. That is, -40°F and -40°C are the same temperature. To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, take the Fahrenheit temperature, subtract 32, then divide that number by 9 and multiply the result by 5. So, (1) -40 - 32 = -72; (2) -72 / 9 = -8; and (3) -8 x 5 = -40.
More Temperature Facts:
- The Fahrenheit temperature scale was suggested by a physicist named Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1724, after whom the scale was named.
- The Celsius temperature scale came along several years later in 1742 when a Swedish astronomer named Anders Celsius first came up with it. His version was the reverse of the scale as we know it today — 0 degrees Celsius was the boiling point and 100 degrees was the freezing point. In 1744, a Carolus Linnaeus, a botanist in Sweden, reversed it.
- The Fahrenheit scale is now only used in the US, Belize and a few other English-speaking countries — all other countries have converted to Celsius. Even in the US, Celsius is the primary temperature scale used in scientific fields.
