Temperature Converter
Convert between all temperature units. Select a conversion from the table below.
Celsius
Celsius (°C), also known as centigrade, is a temperature scale where 0°C is the freezing point of water and 100°C is the boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure. It is used by most countries worldwide for weather reports, cooking, and science.
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit (°F) is a temperature scale where 32°F is the freezing point of water and 212°F is the boiling point. It is primarily used in the United States for weather forecasts, cooking, and everyday temperature measurements.
What Is Temperature?
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses the degree of hotness or coldness of a substance. It is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a system. Unlike most other unit conversions, temperature conversion involves both multiplication and addition because different temperature scales have different zero points and different degree sizes.
Celsius (°C)
The Celsius scale, also known as centigrade, was defined with 0°C as the freezing point of water and 100°C as its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure. It is the most widely used temperature scale in the world, employed by every country except the United States for weather reports, cooking, and scientific purposes. The Celsius scale was created by Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius in 1742.
Fahrenheit (°F)
The Fahrenheit scale sets 32°F as the freezing point of water and 212°F as the boiling point. It is primarily used in the United States and a few Caribbean nations for weather forecasts, oven temperatures, and everyday measurements. Created by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1724, the scale was originally based on three reference points including the temperature of a brine solution.
Kelvin (K)
The Kelvin scale is the SI base unit of temperature. It starts at absolute zero (0 K = −273.15°C), the theoretical point where all molecular motion ceases. One kelvin equals one degree Celsius in size, so conversions between Celsius and Kelvin require only adding or subtracting 273.15. Kelvin is used in physics, chemistry, astronomy, and engineering.
Conversion Formulas
The key formulas are: °F = °C × 9/5 + 32, °C = (°F − 32) × 5/9, and K = °C + 273.15. These formulas involve offsets, making temperature conversion fundamentally different from linear unit conversions like length or weight.