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ERIC Number: EJ892004
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-May
Pages: 3
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 5
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
Converting between [Degrees]C and [Degrees]F: A Teachable Moment
Day, Lawrence
Physics Teacher, v45 n5 p285-287 May 2007
Converting between degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit isn't difficult. Remembering when to multiply by 5/9 or 9/5 and whether you have to add 32 or subtract 32 makes it fairly easy. Sometimes, though, fairly easy isn't easy enough. Students have trouble remembering the order of operations: "Do I add or subtract 32, and is that before or after I multiply?" Of course, knowing that 32[degrees] Fahrenheit is 0[degree] Celsius helps with remembering, but students don't always see it that way. And why is it that you subtract first when going from [degrees]F to [degrees]C, but multiply first when going the other way?
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://scitation.aip.org/tpt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A