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Rankine Scale

The Rankine scale is an absolute temperature scale named after William Rankine. It uses degrees Fahrenheit for units with 0°R being absolute zero. It is still used in engineering where heat computations use Fahrenheit. It relates to other temperature scales with conversions provided in a table.

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66 views2 pages

Rankine Scale

The Rankine scale is an absolute temperature scale named after William Rankine. It uses degrees Fahrenheit for units with 0°R being absolute zero. It is still used in engineering where heat computations use Fahrenheit. It relates to other temperature scales with conversions provided in a table.

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bman0051401
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Rankine scale
The Rankine scale (/ˈræŋkɪn/) is an absolute scale of
thermodynamic temperature named after the University of
Rankine
Glasgow engineer and physicist Macquorn Rankine, who Unit of Temperature
proposed it in 1859.[1] Symbol R, °R or °Ra
Named after Macquorn Rankine
History Conversions
x R in ... ... corresponds to ...
Similar to the Kelvin scale, which was first proposed in 1848,[1]
5
9x K
zero on the Rankine scale is absolute zero, but a temperature Kelvin scale
difference of one Rankine degree (°R or °Ra) is defined as equal to Celsius ( 59 x − 273.15) °C
one Fahrenheit degree, rather than the Celsius degree used on the
scale
Kelvin scale. In converting from kelvin to degrees Rankine, 1 K =
9 Fahrenheit (x − 459.67) °F
5 °R or 1 K = 1.8 °R. A temperature of 0 K (−273.15 °C;
−459.67 °F) is equal to 0 °R.[2]

Usage
The Rankine scale is still used in engineering systems where heat computations are done using
degrees Fahrenheit.[3]

The symbol for degrees Rankine is °R[2] (or °Ra if necessary to distinguish it from the Rømer and
Réaumur scales). By analogy with the SI unit, the kelvin, some authors term the unit Rankine,
omitting the degree symbol.[4][5]

Some temperatures relating the Rankine scale to other temperature scales are shown in the table
below.

Temperature Kelvin Celsius Fahrenheit Rankine

Absolute zero 0K −273.15 °C −459.67 °F 0 °R

Freezing point of brine[a] 255.37 K −17.78 °C 0 °F 459.67 °R

Freezing point of water[b] 273.15 K 0 °C 32 °F 491.67 °R

Boiling point of water[c] 373.1339 K 99.9839 °C 211.97102 °F 671.64102 °R

See also
Comparison of temperature scales

Notes
a. The freezing point of brine is the zero point of Fahrenheit scale, old definition, see: Grigull 1986
b. The ice point of purified water has been measured to be 0.000089(10) degrees Celsius – see
Magnum 1995
c. For Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water at one standard atmosphere (101.325 kPa) when
calibrated solely per the two-point definition of thermodynamic temperature. Older definitions of
the Celsius scale once defined the boiling point of water under one standard atmosphere as being
precisely 100 °C. However, the current definition results in a boiling point that is actually 16.1 mK
less. For more about the actual boiling point of water, see VSMOW in temperature measurement.

References
1. "Rankine" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Rankine). Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Retrieved 2019-11-07.
2. B.8 Factors for Units Listed Alphabetically (https://www.nist.gov/physical-measurement-laboratory/
nist-guide-si-appendix-b8) from Thompson & Taylor 2008, pp. 45–69
3. Berger, Eric (2022-08-29). "Warning sign? NASA never finished a fueling test before today's SLS
launch attempt" (https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/08/warning-sign-nasa-never-finished-a-fueli
ng-test-before-todays-sls-launch-attempt/). Ars Technica.
4. Pauken 2011, p. 20
5. Balmer 2011, p. 10

Bibliography
Balmer, Robert (2011). Modern Engineering Thermodynamics. Oxford: Elsevier Inc.
ISBN 978-0-12-374996-3.
Magnum, B.W. (June 1995). "Reproducibility of the Temperature of the Ice Point in Routine
Measurements" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070307055524/http://www.cstl.nist.gov/div836/83
6.05/papers/magnum95icept.pdf) (PDF). NIST Technical Note. 1411. Archived from the original (ht
tp://www.cstl.nist.gov/div836/836.05/papers/magnum95icept.pdf) (PDF) on 2007-03-07. Retrieved
2007-02-11.
Pauken, Michael (2011). Thermodynamics For Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing Inc.
ISBN 978-1-118-00291-9.
Thompson, Ambler; Taylor, Barry N. (2008). "Guide for the use of the International System of Units
(SI)" (https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication811e2008.pdf) (PDF).
NIST Special Publication. 811. doi:10.6028/nist.sp.811e2008 (https://doi.org/10.6028%2Fnist.sp.8
11e2008). Retrieved 2019-11-07.
Grigull, Ulrich (1986). Heat Transfer (http://www.aihtc.org/pdfs/IHTC-8-Grigull.pdf) (PDF).
Retrieved 2022-08-29.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rankine_scale&oldid=1158565473"

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