How Cold Will It Be Tomorrow?
 

Suppose you live in one of the coldest areas on Earth and the weather man says, "it's zero degrees today and will be twice as cold tomorrow." What will the temperature be tomorrow?

Since two negatives equal a positive -- who cares???

Oh, too bad, you didn't know the answer. Perhaps someone else will.

How about cold enough to bring my brass monkey inside?

-230

Celsius or Fahrenheit?

0C would be -50C.

0C is 32F so twice 0 would be 16F.

Probably wrong but those are my SWAG answers.

Z

Fahrenheit

So take a guess. This is the Just for Fun Forum. We do not have to be intelligent or serious here.

Z

Well, I looked up the answer on Google and now I am really confused.

Math Forum - Ask Dr. Math


Z

Too cold--gave me brain freeze.

Colder than a witch's left um, er, boob.

0ºF = -17.778ºC
2 x -17.778 = -35.556
-35.556ºC = -32.001ºF

It makes sense when you think about. Twice as cold would be -32 degrees.
Tommy, my son said that at my age doing math is good for my brain.

Give me another. [be back later, going to watch Selma]

How Cold Will It Be Tomorrow?
 

There may be a scientific or meteorological answer, but a simple multiplication of a temperature in degrees (Fahrenheit or Celsius) is not it. These temperature scales are just a numeric tool invented by man to help describe heat and cold.

You could possibly use the Kelvin scale, where 0 degrees is absolute zero...total absence of motion. There are no negative Kelvin temperatures. Temperature on the Kelvin scale is sort of a measure of energy (I'm no expert), so halving the Kelvin temperature could possibly be construed as twice as cold.

I got the question from a book, "Is That A Fact". It was written by a man who answered difficult questions on the radio for many years. This was one question he couldn't answer.

But your link was helpful. The second response (to Lynn) used the Kelvin scale, got the answer, and then converted it back to -136.58 Celsius.


zcaveman wins a trophy! :eclipsee_gold_cup:.......:BigApplause:

Joe Schwarcz?
 

Joe Schwarcz | Office for Science & Society - McGill University

Is this the man?

Yes, thanks for the link, now I know what he looks like. I haven't read very much yet, I'm on the second chapter. I had never heard of him before; I just happened to notice this book in the library.

I know you got the answer out of a book and I should be asking the guy who wrote the book. But only given the information provided I don't see how my answer is wrong. It might not be the only answer since the question was subject to interpretation.


0ºF = -17.778ºC do you agree this is true?
2 x -17.778 = -35.556 do you agree twice as cold would mean two times [2x] as cold?
-35.556ºC = -32.001ºF do you agree this is true?