What is normal body temperature in Fahrenheit?

37 °C is 98.6 °F. The precision is misleading: the original measurement was 37 °C to two digits, so 98.6 suggests more accuracy than anyone actually measured.

Where do the two scales meet?

At −40. It is the only point where the number is the same in both, which makes it a quick sanity check for any converter you do not trust.

Why not convert through kelvin?

Because it costs accuracy. Going through kelvin subtracts 273.15 from a number close to 273.15, which throws away significant digits exactly around freezing point. This tool converts directly and lands on 32 °F for 0 °C without any floating point dust.

Tool Arsenal All tools

Celsius to Fahrenheit

Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit in your browser. Temperature is an offset scale, not a simple multiple, so 0 °C is 32 °F rather than zero.

°F = °C × 1.8 + 32

NIST SP 811 (2008), Appendix B.8 — degree Fahrenheit (temperature) (°F) to degree Celsius (°C): t/°C = (t/°F − 32)/1.8

Temperature is the conversion that breaks naive converters, because the two scales do not share a zero. Every other unit on this site is a plain ratio: double the kilometers and you double the miles. Here you have to scale and then shift, which is why 0 °C is 32 °F and why the two scales cross at exactly −40.

How it is calculated

°F = °C × 1.8 + 32

The standard states the inverse, that °C equals (°F − 32) divided by 1.8, and this is that relation rearranged. Note that the offset applies to temperatures, not to differences: a rise of 1 °C is a rise of 1.8 °F, with no 32 involved.

Source: NIST SP 811 (2008), Appendix B.8 — degree Fahrenheit (temperature) (°F) to degree Celsius (°C): t/°C = (t/°F − 32)/1.8

Common values

degrees Celsius	degrees Fahrenheit
-40	-40
-18	-0.4
0	32
10	50
16	60.8
20	68
25	77
30	86
37	98.6
100	212
180	356
200	392

Questions people ask

What is normal body temperature in Fahrenheit?: 37 °C is 98.6 °F. The precision is misleading: the original measurement was 37 °C to two digits, so 98.6 suggests more accuracy than anyone actually measured.
Where do the two scales meet?: At −40. It is the only point where the number is the same in both, which makes it a quick sanity check for any converter you do not trust.
Why not convert through kelvin?: Because it costs accuracy. Going through kelvin subtracts 273.15 from a number close to 273.15, which throws away significant digits exactly around freezing point. This tool converts directly and lands on 32 °F for 0 °C without any floating point dust.

Found a problem, or want more?

A number that disagrees with its source is a defect, not a rounding preference.

What did you enter, what did the tool show, and what did you expect instead? If you have a source that disagrees with ours, a link to it is the most useful thing you can send.

Write to us

Opens your mail app with the page and tool already filled in.

Related tools

converterTemperature