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Temperature

Just how hot is 100 degrees Celsius?

Fire & industry

100 °C

Scale
100 degrees Celsius

Celsius and Fahrenheit have shifted zero points.

100 °CTemperature
0 K · absolute zero
Boiling water

Boiling water is water heated until it changes rapidly from liquid to steam at standard atmospheric pressure.

100 °CTemperature
0 K · absolute zero
Celsius and Fahrenheit zero points are offsets. Compare temperature differences, not ratios in °C or °F. The kelvin axis starts at absolute zero.

A little perspective

100 degrees Celsius is the same as the temperature of boiling water.

Measurements, assumptions & sources +

100 degrees Celsius

Temperature: 100 °C; definition.

Celsius and Fahrenheit have shifted zero points. Differences are useful; “twice as hot” in °C or °F is not a physical temperature ratio.

NIST — SI conversion factors

Boiling water

Temperature: 100 °C; defined reference.

Fresh water at approximately one standard atmosphere. Altitude and pressure change the boiling point.

Defined examples — our methodology

The marked temperature is calibrated. Unmeasured illustration details are representative.

Measurement details

Why these numbers?

Compare 100 degrees Celsius with the temperature of boiling water. The notes below explain how each value was chosen.

100 degrees Celsius

100 °C

Temperature · definition

Celsius and Fahrenheit have shifted zero points. Differences are useful; “twice as hot” in °C or °F is not a physical temperature ratio.

Boiling water

100 °C

Temperature · defined reference

Fresh water at approximately one standard atmosphere. Altitude and pressure change the boiling point.

Comparing
Temperature ↔ Temperature
Relative size
We compare temperatures using a difference in kelvins, not a ratio.

How to read the visual

The diagram uses the recorded measurements. Details outside the marked spans do not set the scale.

  • The temperature of boiling water: This is an illustrative comparison value, not a claim that every example is the same.

Compare temperature differences in kelvins; Celsius and Fahrenheit ratios are not meaningful.

212 °Fdegrees Fahrenheit
373.15 Kkelvin

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