Video · 0:57
Can a cricket tell you the temperature?
Yes, a cricket can tell you the temperature. A tree cricket chirps faster as the air warms up. If you count its chirps for eight seconds and add five, the total gives the temperature in degrees Celsius.
Watch on YouTube ↗Key facts
- A tree cricket chirps faster when the surrounding air gets hot.
- Counting chirps for eight seconds and adding five gives the temperature in Celsius.
- A thermometer reading of twenty-three degrees matched eighteen chirps plus five.
Questions people also ask
Why does a cricket chirp faster?
The cricket simply warms up with the air and sings faster.
How many seconds do you count cricket chirps?
You count the chirps for exactly eight seconds before adding five to find the temperature.
What kind of cricket can you use to test the temperature?
You can listen to a tiny tree cricket hiding in the bushes.
What the video says
Listen to the summer night. Can you hear the bugs singing? A grandfather gives his granddaughter a stopwatch. They are starting a fun test.
He points at the bushes. A tiny tree cricket is hiding there. The cricket chirps faster when the air is hot.
Can a cricket tell us the temperature? The girl counts the cricket's chirps. She watches the clock for exactly eight seconds.
Then she adds five to her number. This gives the temperature in Celsius. The bug just warms up and sings faster.
She checks the porch thermometer. The red line points to twenty-three degrees. Eighteen chirps plus five makes twenty-three! The cricket was right.
