Prev. Article Next Article Table of Contents

Article

Temperature Scale Conversion as a Linear Equation: True Unit Conversion vs Zero-Offset Correction

Citing Articles

Your current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

Purchase the full-text

PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)

Reuben Rudman

Adelphi University, Department of Chemistry, Garden City, NY 11530

J. Chem. Educ., 1998, 75 (12), p 1646

DOI: 10.1021/ed075p1646

Publication Date (Web): December 1, 1998

Section:

History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

The equation used for the interconversion between the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales is in reality the general case of the straight-line equation (y = ax + b). This equation is the paradigm for many of the calculations taught in introductory chemistry: (i) most unit conversions are special cases of this equation where "a" does not equal one and "b" equals zero (i.e., slope not equal to one and y-intercept equal to zero); (ii) Many instrumental zero-point corrections are special cases of this equation where "a" equals one and "b" does not equal zero; and (iii) Many of the conversions between the various common temperature scales are general cases of this equation ("a" does not equal one and "b" does not equal zero) wherein the two operations used in effecting this conversion are a zero-point offset correction and a normal conversion-factor procedure. Relating these "new" concepts to the familiar straight-line equation will enhance student comprehension and retention.

Keywords (Audience):

High School / Introductory Chemistry

Keywords (Subject):

Nomenclature / Units / Symbols

View: Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links

Citing Articles

Citation data is made available by participants in CrossRef's Cited-by Linking service. For a more comprehensive list of citations to this article, users are encouraged to perform a search in SciFinder.

This article has been cited by 1 ACS Journal articles (1 most recent appear below).

An Interactive Graphical Approach to Temperature Conversions
Jonathan Mitschele
Journal of Chemical Education2002 79 (10), 1235
- An Interactive Graphical Approach to Temperature Conversions
  Jonathan Mitschele
  Journal of Chemical Education2002 79 (10), 1235
  A simple graphical approach to explaining temperature conversions is presented. With this method, units are used in a consistent manner and the meaning of multiplicative factors and additive terms in conversion formulas is made clear. Student measurements ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links