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Mercury-in-glass thermometers are generally no longer used in a medical setting in most modern countries, and are being phased out around the world (although they are still useful in scientific applications, such as barometers). Mercury is highly toxic, and does not metabolize out of the body normally.
Mercury has a number of physical properties that make it ideal for measuring pressure changes (heat, such as in a thermometer, creates a change in pressure inside a closed environment). It is a metal, nonmagnetic, very dense, but liquid at room temperature (mercury's freezing point is -39 C, and it boils at 357 C). It does not expand or contract very much with temperature changes, and thus will not burst out of a confined glass tube as long as there is a bit of room inside the tube (usually a vacuum or something like nitrogen) for movement. Also, such expansion and contraction is consistent and predictable.
Mercury is not the only substance that could be used for this purpose, but it is the best fit.
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∙ 12y ago
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What was the first liquid used in a thermometer?
The first thermometer was a tube filled with water and air.
Define vapor pressure thermometer?
A thermometer which utilizes a gas(vapor) to react to temperature changes for an accurate reading. (Instead of a hazardous material such as a mercury filled thermometer.)
Which thermometer is a greater health hazard if it breaks Is it the mercury in glass or alcohol in glass thermometer?
Mercury is poisonous.
Why can a mercury thermometer be used only at high temperatures?
A mercury thermometer can go down to -30 deg C
Why do you like Mercury?
i like mercury because it is inside a thermometer
What was the first liquid used in a thermometer?
The first thermometer was a tube filled with water and air.
What are the four kinds of thermomether?
1. Alcohol or spirit thermometer 2. Mercury thermometer 3. Liquid crystal thermometer 4. Quartz thermometer 5. Reversing thermometer 6. Resistance thermometer
Define vapor pressure thermometer?
A thermometer which utilizes a gas(vapor) to react to temperature changes for an accurate reading. (Instead of a hazardous material such as a mercury filled thermometer.)
Is mercury used in food thermometer?
In a mercury thermometer, a glass tube is filled with mercury and a standard temperature scale is marked on the tube. With changes in temperature, the mercury expands and contracts, and the temperature can be read from the scale. Mercury thermometers can be used to determine body, liquid, and vapor temperature.
What is the working and construction of thermometer?
WORKING: Place the bulb of the thermometer filled with mercury in a vessel ov small pieces of ice the mercury will arise in the tube and will come to rest at a certain point.this point shows the melting point of ice. CONSTRUCTION:A thermometer consists of a glass bulb filled with mercury.A cappilary tube arises from this bulb.Due to the narrow bore of the tube a small change in the volume of the mercury becomes significiantly visible.
The function of a Mercury thermometer?
to tell old people that have a mercury thermometer what the temperature is
What is Mercury thermometer use to measure?
A mercury thermometer is used to measure temperature.
What is thermometer made up of?
In this answer I m referring to the normal thermometers. Not the electronic thermometers. There is a very very thin capillary tube incide the thermometer which is filled with mercury and it has a bulb aT one end. When it touches a surface, the mercury expands, rises in the capillary and the temperature is shown.
Mention any two points of difference between a clinical thermometer and an ordinary mercury thermometer?
A clinical thermometer will offer more precise calibrated readings than a mercury thermometer. The range of measurable temperature differs between a clinical and a mercury thermometer with the mercury thermometer having the wider range.
What type of thermometer is widely used in science classrooms?
Frequently thermometers filled with an alcohol; but also thermometers with mercury, with thermoresistance, thermocouples, etc.
Who invented the modern mercury thermometer and when?
The mercury thermometer was invented Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1714.
When a mercury-based thermometer is invented?
The mercury thermometer was invented Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1714.
