Convert Celsius (°C) to Fahrenheit (°F) instantly.
About these units
Celsius (°C)
The Celsius scale is one of the world's most widely used temperature scales, rooted in human experience and environmental observation. Defined so that water freezes at 0°C and boils at 100°C under standard atmospheric pressure, the scale provides intuitive benchmarks that align closely with everyday life, weather reporting, cooking, and basic heating or cooling applications. In scientific work, the Celsius scale aligns neatly with the kelvin: T(K) = T(°C) + 273.15, which preserves temperature intervals and ensures compatibility with thermodynamic equations. This makes Celsius suitable for most laboratory temperature measurements while maintaining convenience for ordinary use. Historically, the scale was reversed—originally, 0°C represented water's boiling point and 100°C its freezing point. It was later inverted to match modern intuitive expectations and became standardized internationally. Today, Celsius serves as a bridge between everyday perception and scientific rigor, striking a balance between practicality and precision.
Fahrenheit (°F)
The Fahrenheit scale was developed by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in the early 18th century and remains widely used in the United States and a few Caribbean nations. Its defining points—32°F for water's freezing point and 212°F for boiling—reflect an early attempt to create a scale that avoided negative values for common weather and indoor temperatures. Fahrenheit offers finer resolution per degree compared to Celsius. Because one Fahrenheit degree is smaller than one Celsius degree (1°C = 1.8°F), meteorologists argue that Fahrenheit provides a more nuanced sense of temperature changes in everyday life. For example, small variations in outdoor temperature feel more perceptible when expressed in Fahrenheit than in Celsius. Despite being non-metric, the Fahrenheit scale remains deeply rooted in American cultural, historical, and industrial practices. Its persistence illustrates how measurement systems often become embedded in a society's identity, even when alternative units may be more scientifically elegant.