Jump to content

Delisle scale: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m Reverted 1 edit by 2606:A000:452C:FB00:E8C8:2818:AB56:286C identified as test/vandalism using STiki
Move the citation of ''Mémoires pour ..." to the article on Delisle, since it appears here without context (if it's the source for this scale we should say that, but I can't confirm). Consistently hyphenate the guy's name where it appears.
 
(26 intermediate revisions by 23 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Temperature scale}}
{{temperature}}
{{temperature}}
[[File:Joseph_Nicolas_Delisle_AGE_V11_1803.jpg | thumb | 220x124px | right | alt= Black and white drawing of Joseph Nicolas Delisle from 1803. He is facing slightly to the left. His hair appears to be grey curls or a wig. He is wearing a ruffled shirt. | Joseph-Nicolas Delisle]]
The '''Delisle scale''' ('''°D''') is a [[temperature]] scale invented in 1732 by the French [[astronomer]] [[Joseph-Nicolas Delisle]] (1688&ndash;1768).<ref name="camuffo">{{cite book |last=Camuffo |first=Dario |title=Improved Understanding of Past Climatic Variability from Early Daily European Instrumental Sources|year=2002|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers|page=314}}</ref> Delisle was the author of ''Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire et aux progrès de l'Astronomie, de la Géographie et de la Physique'' (1738).
The '''Delisle scale''' is a [[temperature scale]] invented in 1732 by the French [[astronomer]] [[Joseph-Nicolas Delisle]] (1688&ndash;1768).<ref name="camuffo">{{cite book |last=Camuffo |first=Dario |title=Improved Understanding of Past Climatic Variability from Early Daily European Instrumental Sources|year=2002|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers|page=314}}</ref> The Delisle scale is notable as one of the few temperature scales that are inverted from the amount of [[thermal energy]] they measure; unlike most other temperature scales, higher measurements in degrees Delisle are colder, while lower measurements are warmer.{{efn|The [[Celsius]] temperature scale was also briefly "inverted" (with 0&nbsp;°C being the boiling point of water and 100&nbsp;°C being the freezing point) from its invention in 1742 until it was reversed in 1743 or 1744.}}


== History ==
== History ==


In 1732, Delisle built a [[thermometer]] that used [[mercury (element)|mercury]] as a working fluid. Delisle chose his scale using the temperature of boiling water as the fixed zero point and measured the contraction of the mercury (with lower temperatures) in hundred-thousandths.<ref name="camuffo" /> Delisle thermometers usually had 2400 or 2700 graduations, appropriate to the winter in [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]],<ref>{{cite book|title= A history of the thermometer and its use in meteorology|author=W. E. Knowles Middleton|year=1966|publisher= Johns Hopkins Press|page=88}}</ref> as he had been invited by [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] to [[St. Petersburg]] to found an observatory in 1725.<ref>{{cite book|title= History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia |editor=John Lankford|year=1997|page=191}}</ref> In 1738, [[Josias Weitbrecht]] {{nowrap|(1702&ndash;47)}} recalibrated the Delisle thermometer with two fixed points, keeping 0 degrees as the boiling point and adding 150 degrees as the freezing point of water. He then sent this calibrated thermometer to various scholars, including [[Anders Celsius]].<ref name="camuffo" /> The [[Celsius]] scale, like the Delisle scale, originally ran from zero for boiling water down to 100 for freezing water. This was reversed to its modern order after his death, in part at the instigation of Swedish botanist [[Carl Linnaeus]] and the manufacturer of Linnaeus thermometers, Daniel Ekström.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.linnaeus.uu.se/online/life/6_32.html|editor=Gunnar Tibell|year=2008|work=Uppsala Universitet|title=Linnaeus' thermometer}}</ref>
In 1732, Delisle built a [[thermometer]] that used [[mercury (element)|mercury]] as a working fluid. Delisle chose his scale using the temperature of boiling water as the fixed zero point and measured the contraction of the mercury (with lower temperatures) in hundred-thousandths.<ref name="camuffo" /> Delisle thermometers usually had 2400 or 2700 gradations, appropriate for the winter in [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]],<ref>{{cite book|title= A history of the thermometer and its use in meteorology|url= https://archive.org/details/historythermomet00midd_055|url-access= limited|author=W. E. Knowles Middleton|year=1966|publisher= Johns Hopkins Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/historythermomet00midd_055/page/n51 88]}}</ref> as he had been invited by [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] to the city to found an observatory in 1725.<ref>{{cite book|title= History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia |url= https://archive.org/details/historyofastrono00john |url-access= registration |editor=John Lankford|year=1997|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofastrono00john/page/191 191]|publisher= Taylor & Francis |isbn= 9780815303220 }}</ref> In 1738, [[Josias Weitbrecht]] {{nowrap|(1702&ndash;47)}} recalibrated the Delisle thermometer with two fixed points, keeping 0 degrees as the boiling point and adding 150 degrees as the freezing point of water. He then sent this calibrated thermometer to various scholars, including [[Anders Celsius]].<ref name="camuffo" /> The [[Celsius]] scale, like the Delisle scale, originally ran from zero for boiling water down to 100 for freezing water. This was reversed to its modern order after his death, in part at the instigation of Swedish botanist [[Carl Linnaeus]] and the manufacturer of Linnaeus thermometers, Daniel Ekström.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210064628/http://www.linnaeus.uu.se/online/life/6_32.html|editor=Gunnar Tibell|year=2008|work=Uppsala Universitet|title=Linnaeus' thermometer}}</ref>


The Delisle thermometer remained in use for almost 100 years in Russia.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}
The Delisle thermometer remained in use for almost 100 years in Russia.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} One of its users was [[Mikhail Lomonosov]], who reversed it in his own work, measuring the freezing point of water as 0&nbsp;°D and the boiling point as 150&nbsp;°D.{{cn|date=June 2021}}


==Conversion table between the different temperature units==
==Conversion table between the different temperature units==
Line 12: Line 14:


== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[Outline of metrology and measurement]]
* [[Comparison of temperature scales]]
* [[Comparison of temperature scales]]


== Notes and references==
== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


Line 25: Line 31:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delisle Scale}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delisle Scale}}
[[Category:Obsolete units of measurement]]
[[Category:Obsolete units of measurement]]
[[Category:Units of temperature]]
[[Category:Scales of temperature]]

Latest revision as of 14:52, 1 November 2024

Delisle temperature conversion formulae
from Delisle to Delisle
Celsius x °De ≘ (100 − x × 2/3) °C x °C ≘ (100 − x) × 3/2 °De
Fahrenheit x °De ≘ (212 − x × 6/5) °F x °F ≘ (212 − x) × 5/6 °De
Kelvin x °De ≘ (373.15 − x × 2/3) K x K ≘ (373.15 − x) × 3/2 °De
Rankine x °De ≘ (671.67 − x × 6/5) °R x °R ≘ (671.67 − x) × 5/6 °De
For temperature intervals rather than specific temperatures,
1 °De = 2/3 °C = 1.2 °F
Conversion between temperature scales
Black and white drawing of Joseph Nicolas Delisle from 1803. He is facing slightly to the left. His hair appears to be grey curls or a wig. He is wearing a ruffled shirt.
Joseph-Nicolas Delisle

The Delisle scale is a temperature scale invented in 1732 by the French astronomer Joseph-Nicolas Delisle (1688–1768).[1] The Delisle scale is notable as one of the few temperature scales that are inverted from the amount of thermal energy they measure; unlike most other temperature scales, higher measurements in degrees Delisle are colder, while lower measurements are warmer.[a]

History

[edit]

In 1732, Delisle built a thermometer that used mercury as a working fluid. Delisle chose his scale using the temperature of boiling water as the fixed zero point and measured the contraction of the mercury (with lower temperatures) in hundred-thousandths.[1] Delisle thermometers usually had 2400 or 2700 gradations, appropriate for the winter in St. Petersburg,[2] as he had been invited by Peter the Great to the city to found an observatory in 1725.[3] In 1738, Josias Weitbrecht (1702–47) recalibrated the Delisle thermometer with two fixed points, keeping 0 degrees as the boiling point and adding 150 degrees as the freezing point of water. He then sent this calibrated thermometer to various scholars, including Anders Celsius.[1] The Celsius scale, like the Delisle scale, originally ran from zero for boiling water down to 100 for freezing water. This was reversed to its modern order after his death, in part at the instigation of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus and the manufacturer of Linnaeus thermometers, Daniel Ekström.[4]

The Delisle thermometer remained in use for almost 100 years in Russia.[citation needed] One of its users was Mikhail Lomonosov, who reversed it in his own work, measuring the freezing point of water as 0 °D and the boiling point as 150 °D.[citation needed]

Conversion table between the different temperature units

[edit]
Kelvin


Celsius


Fahrenheit


Rankine scale


Rømer scale


Newton scale


Delisle scale


Réaumur scale

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The Celsius temperature scale was also briefly "inverted" (with 0 °C being the boiling point of water and 100 °C being the freezing point) from its invention in 1742 until it was reversed in 1743 or 1744.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Camuffo, Dario (2002). Improved Understanding of Past Climatic Variability from Early Daily European Instrumental Sources. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 314.
  2. ^ W. E. Knowles Middleton (1966). A history of the thermometer and its use in meteorology. Johns Hopkins Press. p. 88.
  3. ^ John Lankford, ed. (1997). History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 191. ISBN 9780815303220.
  4. ^ Gunnar Tibell, ed. (2008). "Linnaeus' thermometer". Uppsala Universitet.
[edit]