How to Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit Without Doing a Single Bit of Math

As you know, all the important countries in the world use Fahrenheit: We use it, plus the Bahamas, Liberia, Palau, Cayman Islands, Marshall Islands, and Federated States of Micronesia. Again, all the world’s most prominent countries.

But since lots of other countries still haven’t gotten on the Fahrenheit train, you’re gonna encounter temperatures in Celsius from time to time. And converting Celsius to Fahrenheit takes math: It’s the Celsius temperature times 1.8, plus 32. No thanks.

So here’s a trick to “convert” Celsius to Fahrenheit without using any math. You won’t get the EXACT temperature, but you’ll get a decent ballpark number.

Just memorize these four situations where the Fahrenheit temperature is basically the Celsius temperature flipped around:

Four degrees Celsius is 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

16 degrees Celsius is 61 degrees Fahrenheit.

28 degrees Celsius is 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

40 degrees Celsius is 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now, you can take whatever Celsius temperature you hear, figure out how it fits in between those ranges, and know about what temperature it’ll be outside and what you should wear.