If an explosive liquid is 74 degrees Fahrenheit, what is its Centigrade temperature?

If an explosive liquid is 74 degrees Fahrenheit, its temperature is 23 1/3 degrees Celsius. The conversion uses the formula °C = (°F − 32) × 5/9. Substituting 74 gives (74 − 32) × 5/9 = 42 × 5/9 = 210/9, or 23.333… degrees Celsius.

The fact that the liquid is explosive does not change the arithmetic. It matters for handling, storage, and safety, but Fahrenheit and Celsius measure temperature using fixed scales regardless of the substance being measured. In ordinary writing, the result can be rounded to 23.3 °C.

“Centigrade” is an older name for the Celsius scale. The modern scientific term is degrees Celsius, named for Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, who proposed a temperature scale in 1742. The original scale was reversed compared with today’s version: zero represented water’s boiling point and 100 represented its freezing point. The scale was later inverted, producing the familiar freezing point of 0 °C and boiling point of 100 °C at standard atmospheric pressure.