This Video Explores Why the United States Still Uses Fahrenheit

By THC Staff | September 1, 2017

 

As a graph on Accuweather.com reads, the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit is 212 degrees. Normal body temperature is 98.6, room temperature is 68, and water freezes at 32 degrees on the scale. But when looking at the Celsius scale, the numbers look much clearer. The boiling point is set at 100 degrees, body temperature is 37, room temperature is 20, and the freezing point is 0. The ease of the metric system leaves many people wondering why the United States sticks to the confusing Fahrenheit scale.

In a new video from Vox, the narrator explains how the Fahrenheit scale spread to the United States from England as the British Empire used the system all of the world in areas it conquered. But after the French Revolution, the metric system spread in popularity, leading even the U.S. to consider switching over to the easier system eventually in 1975. So why didn’t the switch happen? Watch the video below to find out.