On Wednesdays, I am planning on asking a single question for people to try and answer. I may post a distorted picture and ask what you think it is...might be a math question...could be a riddle...etc. Everyone can post their guesses/answers or ask questions in the comment section. Then the following Wednesday I will post the answer/winner (if anyone got it right) as well as a new question. Not sure if this will work well or not (or if people are interested), so even if you have no clue what the answer is to this week's question but like the idea of trying out a new question next week, at least make a comment like, "I have no idea" so I know you are at least thinking about it!
Since this weekly blog idea may be short-lived, I am going to start out with a tough question. So here it is...good luck!
Today it is 0 degrees Celsius outside. Tomorrow it will be twice as cold as it is today. What will the temperature be tomorrow?
18 comments:
I will have to come back to answer in peace... this is what I'm hearing right now!
--oooooo, was uncle mike a baby???
--why is that baby look like that? What does that say?
--is that uncle mike as a baby?
(and repeat each wuestion 3-4 times b/c I'm not answewring them :)
I'm not even sure I read all your post yet!
I'm sure there is a very simple mathematical answer
but, it doesn't really seem cold today, , but twice as cold as today,well, now that just would be cold & I would need my long johns & double layer of socks.
So I think that means it would be...
"...a two dog night"
0 degrees c = 32 degrees F, so 32 degrees * 2 = 64 degrees, so whatever the equivilant c degrees is to 64 degrees f is the answer.
So - what do I win?
It's not that easy! You can't just skip from scale to scale because both scales can go into the negatives.
For example...the way you are figuring it out, I could ask, "what is twice as cold as 2 degrees Celsius"....are you going to divide it by 1/2 and say 1 degree Celsius or convert to F divide that in half and convert back to Celsius which would give you an answer of -7.8 degrees.
Both are very different answers (and both are wrong answers as well). Keep trying!
Where's Jerry on this one???
I am going with Jason's email yesterday and say "Cold is the absence of heat" therefore "coldness" cannot be measured. You are measuring heat when you measure temperature not coldness!
Jerry
I agree with you Jerry that you can't add or subtract "cold", but you can add and subtract heat. For example the difference between 80 degrees and 30 degrees is the amount of "heat" in the air, not the amount of "cold".
But since heat is measurable, the problem does have an answer.
I say minus 32 degrees.
Janet
Okay, if you insist Mike. Water boils at 100 degrees celsius and freezes at 0 degrees. So your "coldness" of twice as cold would have to be minus 100 degrees celsius.
try number 2, how many tries do I get???
Jerry
You are getting a little closer, but now you are jumping around between water and air. You are correct in saying that the most heat water can take is 100 degrees C, but regular temperature can get MUCH hotter (ie: the sun which is about 6000 degrees C). We are talking air temperature, so the first step would be to somehow figure out how much heat is in 0 degrees Celsius.
I think you have to use the Kelvin scale because isn't there something about "absolute zero" and in other words the total absence of heat on that scale but I don't remember the conversions...am I getting closer?
But, even if I'm not, I want to say that I like Julie's answer the best :)
I looked the conversion up...my answer is -136.5 degrees Celsius and I sure am glad it's not that cold here!
Ok - first off...I LOVE Julie's the best! Ah, to be a mother of 3! haha
Second - I feel like I'm in Science class or something...
Third - I was never good at Science...
Fourth - My answer was going to be the same as mom's - negative 32 degrees Celsius.
Fifth - IS that Uncle Mike's baby picture???
Sixth - The more I think the more I am confused as well.......
hahaha! (looks like this is a keeper Mike!!!)
There is no good answer to your question because cold is a relative term and it is not quantitative. It’s similar to short. “He’s twice as short as you”…what’s short? 6ft, 7ft? If you rephrase to have as tall, you are 6ft, half as tall (or half the heat) would be 3ft. First of all, in order to use operators in temperature you need to convert to Rankine or Kelvin temperature scales where there is no negative numbers and the coldest is 0 (the point all matter stops moving). Otherwise, if the temperature is -10, half of that is -5 which would mean it’s warmer, not colder.
Considering this and the use of the saying “twice as cold” you must mean half the temperature (or ½ the heat) on either absolute scale of Kelvin or Rankine. That would make 0C = 273.15K and half the heat of that would be 136.58K or -136.58C. But that is still a relative answer and an assumption that twice as cold = half the heat as you phrase the question.
Jason
By the way, the coldest natural temperature ever recorded has been -89C at a Russian Station in Antarctica in 1983. So -136.58C would be quite the absence of heat.
In 1908, Onnes, a scientist was able to artificially cool helium to -272.15C (1K) and cause it to boil (which it's boiling point is -268.94C). He got the Noble Prize for doing this.
I still think it means it will be a "two dog night".....
so it's a battle between the retired math teacher and the engineer.....I'm out! :)
One thing for sure Mike, your post got lots of looks. Seems like you need to keep the Wednesday idea going!
Jerry
Haley says:
wouldn't it be 0 degrees Celsius?
because 0 times 2 is 0..
but i think it's a trick question i just can't figure out the real answer lol
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