The Rankine scale is a thermodynamic scale formerly used by engineers in English-speaking countries. Its degrees are the same size as Fahrenheit degrees, but 0 is set at absolute zero, -460°F. Symbol, °R. The unit is obsolete.
The rankine scale is named for the British physicist and civil engineer William John MacQuorn Rankine (1826 – 1872), one of the founders of theoretical thermodynamics.
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Last revised: 21 January 2002.