h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just a little question, which might have lots of answers.

If it's zero degrees outside today, and suppopsed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be???

Have a think, I'm still thinking.

Sunriser

As cold is a lack of heat, the scientific answer would be ' half way between 0% and absolute zero (-273%) ' wouldn't it ?
Half as warm, in fact.

BJ

Thanks for that, i see where you are coming from. Cheers, Sunriser.

If it's zero degrees Centigrade then that's 32° Farenheit (or it was when I went to school), making 16° tomorrow. But as the North Pole is melting, I am not sure it's even that there at the moment, so your weather man was exaggerating, or, more likely, he doesn't know what he's talking about.

There wasn't a weatherman - I just thought the question up - But I must say the farenheit answer is a good one

An alternative is to take a human-centered view, and use the difference between body temperature and the air temperature as the important factor, making -37 C the appropriate temperature.
Alternatively, using average skin temperature would give -31C.
That gives a temperature where, for the same amount of insulation, it would take twice as much energy to maintain your body temperature.