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The fifth grader in me had a question - why 98.6F?

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https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/8360006274

July 21, 2020, 07:59 PM
flashguy
The fifth grader in me had a question - why 98.6F?
quote:
Originally posted by Skins2881:
quote:
Originally posted by sig77:
I am always 97.5ish. If I get to 98.6 I have a fever. Been that way since I was a kid.


I'm the same way 97.5 average, if I hit 99, then that's a fever for me.
Same here. Always have been about a degree "low".

flashguy




Texan by choice, not accident of birth
July 21, 2020, 08:41 PM
nhtagmember
Actually it’s a good question and the answer is going to surprise you. The human temp has nothing to do with the number.

The temperature is the result of the scale.

In Fahrenheit it was fixed that water will turn from a liquid to a solid at 32° and that water will turn from a liquid to a vapor at 212°.

Similarly in MKS water changes state at 0° and 100°.

In the F° system you have a difference of 180 increments between the two temperatures. So when you take a temperature a human just happens to fall at about the midpoint.

It wasn’t planned that way.
July 21, 2020, 08:55 PM
Sigfest
I’m a 96.5 degree guy. At the ‘normal’ range, I’m hot.