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a) Is 10 degrees C twice as hot as 5 degrees C?
b) Is 10 decibels twice as loud as 5 decibels?
Best answer gets a beer from me in Vegas (no, not 10 beers)
10 degrees is not twice as hot as 5 degrees because 5 degrees is not hot at all. So therefore, 10 is not twice as hot as 5.
Now.... who's on first?
5 deg C = 41 deg F
10 deg C = 50 deg F
1.8C+32 (C=deg C)
Who Cares?
As for the dB I don't know. I don't really care either. 5 is quieter than 10
Ska
FYI -40 degF is the same as -40 degC (do the math)
Syzygy
That always blew my mind.
The answer to (b) is no, as the decibel scale is a log scale.
as the decibel scale is a log scale.
... and each 3dB (approx) represents a double in power.
All I know is that 10 beers is twice as many as 5.
And after you've had 10 beers, the next 5 are 20 beers. And after that the next 20 beers are 4 1/2 pints.
This is based on the trillianalogarithmeticbeer scale (which is known to be wholly inaccurate and all experiments based on it are unrepeatable).
TJ
>>> I think that the answer to (a) is no, as heat is measured on a scale of degrees kelvin. 5 degrees C is -268 degrees kelvin. 10 degrees C is -263 degrees kelvin - these two figures are not twice/half of each other.
But why would the scale matter? You could change the scale to the 'Henry VIII' scale (let's call it Celcius minus 3.5). Is 10 HenryVIII twice as hot as 5 HenryVIII? Is 50 Kelvin twice as hot as 25 Kelvin?
>>> 1.8C+32 (C=deg C)
This is merely a scalar translation
>>>> Before you can accertain if something is twice as much as something else surely you would firstly need to find the highest and lowest possible values. I imagine that it could be quite difficult to find how loud sound can get and how hot something can get
Closer, I feel. Does this have to do with the difference between twice as in 'multiplied by 2' and twice as in two times a variable amount?
>>>> trillianalogarithmeticbeer scale
I am familiar with this scale, although I can't exactly remember the details. Something to do with 'twice more beer is more than twice less beer'.
Sorry, had a strange day.
But the simple way to look at it is to do the conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius since they both measure the same thing, just in different units: 5C = 41F, 10C = 50F. Is 50 twice as hot as 41?
10ºC is about 1.80% hotter than 5ºC
We know the zero values for both of those. That's all you need.
Example: there is no limit to how high something can be. However, given that the ground is zero, it's possible to state that object x is twice as high as object y.
I studied Electronic Engineering, so am slightly more qualified to take on the sound problem than the temperature problem.
Using the decibel scale, an increase of 3dB is approximately double the initial value.
You could show this quantitatively by measuring the amplitude of the two sound waves.
a) Is 10 degrees C twice as hot as 5 degrees C?b) Is 10 decibels twice as loud as 5 decibels?
a) No, just as October 10th is not more "octobery" than October 5th.
or... No, unless it's Friday between 6:55 and five minutes to seven.
or... No, "°C" is not a measurement of "hot-ness", it's a measurement of speed. So, using vincevincevince's formula, 10°C is about 1.8% faster dehydration than 5°C, or 1.8% faster tan... or something like that.
b) Are 10 kids twice as loud as 5 kids? No, they are roughly three times louder. That's how dB works too :)
Since it is an absolute scale, starting at zero, then there is no degrees in it at all. It is just Kelvin.
>> 5 degrees C is -268 degrees kelvin. 10 degrees C is -263 degrees kelvin <<
All Kelvin temperatures are a positive number:
5 degrees Celsius = 278.15 Kelvin
10 degrees Celsius = 283.15 Kelvin
the reason ..is coz I said so!
my mom always used this reason when I asked "smart" questions ...
>>>> "no, as the decibel scale is a log scale."
Indeed - BobFisk gets a beer (if he wants one)
Re. temperature question:
>>>> No, just as October 10th is not more "octobery" than October 5th.
I like it - I was waiting for an answer that expressed this problem in terms of language. The fact is, the stated question simply doesn't make 'sense' in the way that the phrase "How tall is Saturday?" doesn't:
[grimpeur.tamu.edu...]
A beer for DrDoc, if he'd like
Indeed - BobFisk gets a beer (if he wants one)
I'm Irish - of course I want one! ;)
If you're really Irish, you'd be wanting much more than just the one.
The greatest Irish lie: "We'll just have the one...".
Do I want one? Yep, followed by another one...
I was concerned an Irish person might give the best answer. Thus my early stipulation of "no, not 10 beers". At least Bob should be easy to spot so I can get him a drink - he'll be the one with the fastest elbow
My ex-wife always said that she did twice as much around the house as I did, I often replied that she left the jobs half done, therefore, we each did the same, but of course she was a relative *****(word removed for esthetic reasons, LOL).
Gotta give a resounding 'NO' to both, since they are relative measurements and not quantative.
5 ounces is half of 10 ounces, which is twice as much. Regardless of the measurement scale used.
5ºC is 5ºC less than 10ºC, which is 5ºC more using the Centigrade scale of measurement only.
A similar relativity exists among colours, smells, etc.
Perhaps it has to do with our (usually) 5 senses, which of course are perceptive.
Could you say that 'rose A' smelled twice as much (or nice) as 'rose B', for instance?
I don't think so.......
when you rearrange that as 400 Kelvin and 200 Kelvin, that is.
Ermmmm, your first statement doesn't seem correct, while the second is, i.e. It is related to your measurement scale and not it's level of heat.
Thus my example: 5 ounces is half of 10 ounces, which is twice as much. Regardless of the measurement scale used.
The above relies on the weight difference and not the measurement scale.
Distance can also be defined, although if we get into relativity theories and the like, I guess, things may not be so clear........
My head hurts ;)
Too much thinking for today, I'm getting back to work.
I was reffering to the unrearranged part, i.e. not using the Kelvin temperature scale, the numbers aren't doubled (although perceptive wise the heat may be double).
Back to the original question......
5 degree Celsius = 278.15 kelvin
10 degree Celsius = 283.15 kelvin
Hardly double!
I'm sure we can find an equivelent temperature that doubles in farenheit too (or any other scale), but that, I believe, is not the point.
I'm pretty sure that heat and sound, just as light, taste, etc, since they are not objects, are not quantity variable.
Hot and loud are descriptive perceptions of physical conditions.
Hmmm, wish the other kids in my class (half a C ago) were as interested in this stuff as I was/am.
<added> Found THIS [theweatherprediction.com] link explaining the difference. </added>
