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Blue Liquid
Science
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A mad scientist gazes into a vial of blue liquid. "This substance is still liquid at minus 40 degrees," he tells his assistant, Boris. Boris replies, "Is that Celsius or Fahrenheit?"
The scientist looks at Boris with his dark eyes and says, "It doesn't matter." Why does the scientist say that?
The scientist looks at Boris with his dark eyes and says, "It doesn't matter." Why does the scientist say that?
Answer
Minus 40 degrees Celsius is minus 40 degrees FahrenheitHide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
OOOOO! Good one! Very clever! I've never heard of such a liquid! What is it????
Missie you missed the point (unless thats sarcasm I'm missing! If it is sorry for the explaination!) Its the same temperature and nothing to do with the liquid. You could say water is solid at -40 degrees on either scale
The way you convert between the two is Temperature celcius is =(5/9)*(Temp Farenheit-32) so if you put in -40, the answer is -40. I hope this helps!
The way you convert between the two is Temperature celcius is =(5/9)*(Temp Farenheit-32) so if you put in -40, the answer is -40. I hope this helps!
It WAS just a joke. that's why there's a smiley face at the end. But, it would be cool if there was such a liquid.
Common ether is still liquid at that range. It freezes at -116.3 degrees Celsius, under normal conditions. (What you know as 'ether' is really diethyl ether. Ether is actually a classification of hydrocarbons)
ether is not blue!!!! Still oil with blue light shining on it could be the answer!!! Great riddle, shame i didnt know the formulae!
ether is not blue!!!! Still oil with blue light shining on it could be the answer!!! Great riddle, shame i didnt know the formulae!
Copper Sulphate Solution is Blue
did anyone think of windshield washer fluid? that is usually blue and can withstand temperatures of approximatly -40 degrees to - 65 degrees. just a question ;-) otherwise it was a good teaser.
i think i didnt understand anything!!! Minus 40 degrees Celcius and minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit
are definetly not the same!!! care to explain??
are definetly not the same!!! care to explain??
yes they are, just look at what cathalmccabe said
It's more trivia than puzzle, but it's still a very interesting piece of information.
Dina, if you don't think that 40 degrees below zero is the same on both the Fahrenheit and Celsius scale, use one of those handy online converters and see for yourself. And next time you doubt what someone else has already shown true, remember it is better to be thought a fool than open one's mouth and remove all doubt.
Dina, if you don't think that 40 degrees below zero is the same on both the Fahrenheit and Celsius scale, use one of those handy online converters and see for yourself. And next time you doubt what someone else has already shown true, remember it is better to be thought a fool than open one's mouth and remove all doubt.
Actually I think that this puzzle (trivia?) is probably somewhat easier for non-Americans. Those of us who use Celcius daily (but who used F in a by-gone era) are probably aware of this type of comparison, moreso than Americans who still use the (obsolete?)Farenheit measurement.
Cathal has already explained, but here's the algebra...
F = 9C/5 + 32
E.g. when C=100 (boiling point of water at STP),
F=9x100/5+32=9x20+32=180+32=212.
So when C=F,
C=9C/5+32
5C=9C+160
4C=-160
C=-40
F = 9C/5 + 32
E.g. when C=100 (boiling point of water at STP),
F=9x100/5+32=9x20+32=180+32=212.
So when C=F,
C=9C/5+32
5C=9C+160
4C=-160
C=-40
Missie if you were joking why did you say AGIAN it would be cool if there were such a liquid ...???
ANY liquid at -40 will satisfy this condition.
ANY liquid at -40 will satisfy this condition.
some comments posted are for the month of june 02 and some for july 02 ?? i am a regular subscriber to the braingle teasers and just received the teaser today...18.07.02 !!!! this is more of a mystery to me.
when i first read the teaser i was thinking windshield wipper fluid like that george dude...but how does -40 degrees C and -40 degrees F equal the same when 40 degrees c and 40 degrees F dont? and i am stumped when ppl give me math to do so does any body care to explain?
ok perhaps Im wrong but i always thought that celcius and fahrenheit are different. they are different though but now Im confused
A couple of people seem confused how Celsius and Farenheit can have the same value. Let me try to give a non-arithmetic example.
Imagine that you draw a line, left to right, about 6 inches long, at about an angle of 60 degrees. (starting at 0 on the vertical scale.)
Now draw a similar line, starting at 40 on the vertical scale, but only at 30 degrees.
At some point the lines would intersect, right?
If we were to do the same thing with actual numbers (C and F), the lines would trend downwards, but they would also intersect. At the -40 degree mark.
Hope that helps/
Imagine that you draw a line, left to right, about 6 inches long, at about an angle of 60 degrees. (starting at 0 on the vertical scale.)
Now draw a similar line, starting at 40 on the vertical scale, but only at 30 degrees.
At some point the lines would intersect, right?
If we were to do the same thing with actual numbers (C and F), the lines would trend downwards, but they would also intersect. At the -40 degree mark.
Hope that helps/
I have an even easier way to think about it...5 degrees on the Celsius scale equals 9 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale. Think about the temp. at which water freezes on each scale: 32 degrees F and 0 degrees C. Now take each of them down to -40 degrees. For each, it takes 8 steps of 5 for Celsius and 8 steps of 9 for Fahrenheit to reach -40. The two scales just happen to coincide at that temperature.
who gives a crap about wut liquid it is?!?!?!?! good teaser!!
Great explanation Squirrel Brains you certainly are not. Any editor people reading? I think any teaser that generates such interesting and funny comments should get extra points!
Jul 19, 2003
very good teaser... i love a teaser that makes me go.... "huh??"..lol... *smile*
Great teaser. This is the best way I can explain the temperature thing.
5/9(40F+32F)=5/9(72F)=40C
Cathalmccabe just put the formula wrong, you are suppose to add.
5/9(40F+32F)=5/9(72F)=40C
Cathalmccabe just put the formula wrong, you are suppose to add.
oh, and it is weird that some of the dates say june and some say july.
Wow, I'm amazed at how many people did not know that -40 was the same on both scales. I guess flynn is right. It must be an american thing.
Good teaser. My apologies that I rated it as being way too easy. That was before I read the comments and discoverd that what I thought was general knowledge obviously was not.
Good teaser. My apologies that I rated it as being way too easy. That was before I read the comments and discoverd that what I thought was general knowledge obviously was not.
Great teaser! I thought it was very easy also, but then again, I am not American. The temperature thing did not stump me.
Cool teaser! Great editing on this one!!
Hey!! Cool to see another NON american here!! I was starting to feel awkward! I agree with person who said,"Who gives a crap about liquides??"
Everybody seems to think that Americans can't use the metric system. Well we can. It might be do to the age of the person. Some older people refuse to learn the metric system and some people don't have enough brains to figure out that the two scales coincide at -40 degrees. The metric system is taught at our schools here. I'm an engineer and throughout my college experience, all we used was SI units.
Okay, I'm in a hurry so I didn't get a chance to read over all the comments, but what if the liquid isn't water? What if it's like... I dont't know. Jello. Before it hardens .
This is the only teaser I've had this week to which that I immediately knew the answer. Because -- my husband was caribou hunting in Canada and the temperature was below -40 C. He informed me that -40C and -40F were the same. (This is also my first week subscribed to Braingle).
GOT THAT ONE
Hmmm....No offense meant, but I think that was a little bit too easy for me, so I did not enjoy it as much as otehrs may have. Good research, though.
Good one, but an easy one as i knew it all along.
Good teaser! I knew this one from useless trivia - apparently not so useless!
Out of curiosity, what is the temperature of liquid oxygen?
Out of curiosity, what is the temperature of liquid oxygen?
cool
LOL my brother's name is Boris
also, good teaser
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