Eli5: I’m trying to find the best way to word this but how does one measure “negative degrees”, like in temperature, like how do you quantify the absence of something that isn’t tangible?

Question

Eli5: I’m trying to find the best way to word this but how does one measure “negative degrees”, like in temperature, like how do you quantify the absence of something that isn’t tangible?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

You aren’t measuring the absence of something. You might be able to look at “Nothing” in temperature as 0 degrees Kelvin. The negative measurements in Celsius just means “below eater’s freezing point”. Zero Fahrenheit was originally the freezing point of a specific ice and salt mix