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Three scales commonly used for temperature are the Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin scales.

  • Fahrenheit scale - named for Daniel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), who identified a zero point for freezing brine, for water's melting point, and for human body temperature (working with a similar scale by Ole Rømer (1644-1710).
  • Celsius scale (centigrade) - named for Anders Celsius (1701-1744), who created a scaled thermometer later improved by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778).
  • Kelvin scale - named for British physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824-1907), who pioneered the concept of "absolute zero". Temperatures are written without degree marks (e.g. 50 kelvins, 50 K)

On the Fahrenheit scale, water freezes at 32°F and boils at 212°F. On the Celsius scale (centigrade), water freezes at 0°C and boils at 100°C. The Kelvin scale uses the same scale as Celsius degrees, but is offset to begin at "absolute zero" (-273.15°C), i.e. water freezes at 273.15 K and boils at 373.15 K.

The rarely-used Rankine scale is also based at Absolute Zero, but uses Fahrenheit degree intervals.

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Q: What are the names of three temperature scales?
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