Fahrenheit to Celsius

About this conversion

Temperature is the conversion people need most urgently, because it changes hour to hour. An American watching a French weather forecast sees "26°" and cannot tell whether to pack a sweater; a European reading a US forecast sees "79°" and wonders if a heat wave is coming. The two scales were built differently: Daniel Fahrenheit chose 32° for freezing water and about 96° for body temperature in the 1720s, while Anders Celsius anchored 0° and 100° to freezing and boiling water. The United States stayed with Fahrenheit largely through habit and the cost of converting every thermometer, thermostat and oven in the country. Beyond weather, the conversion matters for cooking temperatures, fever thresholds and pool heating. Subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit value, then multiply by 5 and divide by 9; the table below does this for the most common temperatures.

Quick reference

Common values at a glance

Real-world example

Questions & answers

Frequently asked questions