Temperature

[sandmaster]

If the forecaster says tomorrow will be twice as cold as today, and today it reached minus 1c I assume tomorrow it will be -2c.
But what if today it reached 0c? What will be the reading tomorrow?

[zig.zag]

just had a lengthy chat with sian lloyd (phwoar)

http://www.dragonsanddaffodils.com/images/Sian _Lloyd.jpg

she told me that if it was -0 today and it was going to be twice as cold tomorrow

then it would be -00

[Ice.Maiden]

Lol - well I just wondered why the obvious (to me!0 isn't true. I mean, if I boiled water at 20 dgerees, and was told to make it twice as hot - I'd boil it to 40 degrees! is that wrong then?

[sandmaster]

I think Ice Maiden has more logic than anyone else who has replied to this thread. Wrong - but logical!!

[New Judge]

Not only wrong, but not logical either I�m afraid, IM.

There are two problems with your analysis: firstly that mathematical convention is being confused with measurement; secondly that of the temperature scales being arbitrary and not absolute (which has been well aired already).

To resolve the first problem consider this: I measure my wealth and find that I owe my friend �1 (that is, I have a wealth of �minus �1�). I resolve to become twice as rich by tomorrow. So, using the same convention as you used with the temperature example that has been the subject of all this, to become twice as rich I should owe my friend �2 (because minus one times two is minus two).

As I said, the second problem has already been well discussed, but to take your heated water example simply think of this: 20 degrees C is 68 degrees F. So, to make your water �twice as hot� do you raise it to 40 degrees C (as you suggest), or 136 degrees F (which is 58 degrees C, or �2.9 times as hot�)? Of course, any other arbitrary scale you care to use will produce similarly confusing results.

Does that help at all?

[Organgrinder]

Initially I thought that this was a nonsense question.

Thinking about it.

If, say, 20 deg C is an equable temperature then 10 degrees C is cold and 0 degrees C is twice as cold. Is this not true?