Centigrade to Celsius Temperature Converter

Centigrade and Celsius are names for the same temperature scale, so converting between them does not change the number. A temperature of 20 degrees centigrade is 20 degrees Celsius, and minus 10 degrees centigrade is minus 10 degrees Celsius. This simple identity is useful when reading older books, historical weather reports, technical manuals, recipes, or documents that use the former terminology. The word centigrade refers to the one hundred degree interval between the freezing and boiling points of water under standard conditions. The scale was associated with Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius and evolved in its early use before reaching the familiar orientation used today. In 1948, the international scientific community formally adopted degree Celsius as the preferred name, partly to avoid ambiguity with a similarly named angular unit in some languages and to honor Celsius. Changing the name did not create a new scale or a new conversion factor. Both terms use a freezing reference near 0 degrees and a boiling reference near 100 degrees at standard atmospheric pressure. Consequently, the conversion formula is simply Celsius equals centigrade. No multiplication, division, offset, or rounding is required. The calculator accepts negative values and decimals because temperatures commonly occur on either side of zero and measurement instruments may report fractional degrees. Celsius is now the standard wording in scientific and technical contexts and is widely used in everyday weather reporting outside the United States. Centigrade still appears informally and in older material, and many readers understand it immediately. When updating a document, you can replace the term centigrade with Celsius while preserving every numerical temperature value. Although the numerical conversion is exact, the physical reference points are influenced by conditions. Water's boiling point changes with atmospheric pressure, and practical thermometers have calibration tolerances. Those effects concern how a temperature is measured, not the relationship between the two names. This tool clarifies terminology rather than estimating environmental effects. Preserve the precision of the source: if an old report states 18 degrees centigrade, write 18 degrees Celsius rather than adding unsupported decimal places. For conversions to Fahrenheit or Kelvin, use the appropriate separate formula because those are genuinely different temperature scales.