Rankine is a thermodynamic (absolute) temperature scale named after the British engineer and physicist William John Macquorn Rankine, who proposed it in 1859.
The symbol is R (or Ra if necessary to distinguish it from the Rømer and Réaumur scales). Occasionally this is written °R, but as with the Kelvin scale the usage of the degree symbol is incorrect. Zero on both the Kelvin and Rankine scales is absolute zero, but the Rankine degree is defined...
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Rankine is a thermodynamic (absolute) temperature scale named after the British engineer and physicist William John Macquorn Rankine, who proposed it in 1859.
The symbol is R (or Ra if necessary to distinguish it from the Rømer and Réaumur scales). Occasionally this is written °R, but as with the Kelvin scale the usage of the degree symbol is incorrect. Zero on both the Kelvin and Rankine scales is absolute zero, but the Rankine degree is defined as equal to one degree Fahrenheit, rather than the one degree Celsius used by the Kelvin scale. A temperature of −459.67 °F is exactly equal to 0 R.
A few engineering fields in the U.S. measure thermodynamic temperature using the Rankine scale. However, throughout the scientific world where measurements are made in SI units, thermodynamic temperature is measured in Kelvin.
Some key temperatures relating the Rankine scale to other temperature scales are shown in the table below.
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