Which fixed point did Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit assign to $0^ ext{ }^ ext{o} ext{F}$ when developing his scale around 1714?
Answer
The temperature of a brine mixture
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit established his scale using three critical, reproducible fixed points to ensure consistency, which was a major step beyond earlier devices. He deliberately set the lowest point, $0^ ext{ }^ ext{o} ext{F}$, to represent the temperature reached by a specific mixture of ice, water, and salt, commonly referred to as a brine mixture. This allowed for a lower, non-freezing calibration point compared to zeroing the scale at the freezing point of pure water. For reference, Fahrenheit set the freezing point of pure water at $32^ ext{ }^ ext{o} ext{F}$ and human body temperature initially at $96^ ext{ }^ ext{o} ext{F}$.
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