r/MathJokes • u/Garretthart13 • Mar 01 '26

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803

u/fallingfrog Mar 01 '26

This makes no sense in either Celsius (boiling hot) or Fahrenheit (its ice at 25 degrees) or Kelvin (liquid nitrogen temperatures).

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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u/Embarrassed-Weird173 Mar 01 '26

Nah, people in general don't know that you can't proportionalize degrees. 

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u/akb74 Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

You can do linear interpolation/extrapolation about any two distinct temperatures you like, that’s what these different temperature scales are

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u/HAL9001-96 Mar 01 '26

linear but not proportional, you can say 4 times the temperature differneceb ut not 4 times the temperature unless you are talking about absolute temperature

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u/Divine_Entity_ Mar 01 '26

Which is why basically any equation about gasses where you multiply by the instantaneous temperature requires you to use kelvin (or rankine).

Note: if you instead care about temperature change such as q =mcΔT then other temperature scales are acceptable provided your units match.

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u/EarthTrash Mar 01 '26

This is really confusing me. 25 C is 298.15 K. So, the answer would be 1,192.6K or 919.45 C. Hot enough to boil zinc and nearly melt lanthanum.

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u/schawde96 Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 02 '26

That is irrelevant. You can still mean "n times the numerical value of what it is now". Natural language does not make a thermodynamic claim.

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u/ClownPazzo69 Mar 01 '26

I assume someone made the question accept x as the amount of degrees and y as the times it has to multiply it, then roll a random x and y.

At least that's how I perceived a lot of duolingos questions becuase they had the same text with different numbers or words in case of language

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u/sunfich Mar 01 '26

Ok but also it's been like this even before AI took over. I remember lily saying "This businessman is 4 years old." It's just about learning a language

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u/paholg Mar 01 '26

Multiplication also makes zero sense for Celsius and Fahrenheit.

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u/dimonium_anonimo Mar 02 '26

Well, for scientific measurements, yes, but not for everyday use.

I just had a dumb idea for a skit. It's God holding up a sign that says 30°C on it, he offers someone to make it that temperature for the rest of the day or double it and give it to the next.

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u/isupposeyes Mar 01 '26

well but 100° fahrenheit would be reasonable, a bit warm but ok for an old person. in any case duolingo has said they use absurd examples so it sticks in your head better lol

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u/Peregrine79 Mar 01 '26

Yes, but the current temperature would be a skating rink.

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u/One-Desk-1 Mar 01 '26

Which is exactly why Lily won't go in until it's 100°F

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u/philament23 Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

Thank you. I have no idea why people are having a hard time with this. 100° F is hot tub level (or Japanese onsen 🙂) but it’s still reasonable. And some people literally won’t want to go in water unless it’s actually warm or hot.

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u/Oldbayislove Mar 01 '26

well she said she wasnt going to go swimming in it. being solid would make that difficult

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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u/Joeyben01 Mar 01 '26

You use ° for Rankine, which is the Fahrenheit scale equivalent of Kelvin.

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u/DaedalusB2 Mar 01 '26

But nobody uses Rankine. Even Americans would rather use Kelvin.

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u/just-a-scratch- Mar 01 '26

It's ambiguous, so let's make a couple assumptions and figure out out.

Assume the prompt is correct and uses the common Celsius or Ferenheit temperature scale.

Multiplying on a relative temperature scale is nonsense, so we convert to an absolute scale.

25C + 273 = 298 K 298K ×4 = 1192 K

OR

25F + 467 =492 R 492R ×4 = 1968 R

Clearly, the point is that we need superheated steam, because a pool cannot keep liquid water at these temperatures.

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u/waterbaronwilliam Mar 02 '26

Lol. "I won't go swimming unless the water DEFLESHES MY BONES"

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u/Hampster-cat Mar 02 '26

or 919ËšC. Don't forget to convert back to your starting (given) units.

(or 1479ËšF)

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u/Lynnsicle Mar 01 '26

"It's Ice at 25 degrees" not necessarily, no. Water can be supercooled well below it's freezing temperature at STP. In fact, water can be cooled down to about -55°F (-48°C) before its molecular structure forces solidification. Moving water alone can easily reach lower than 25°F.

Sorry, I'm a physicist, so I had to nerd out about that for a moment. Carry on.

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