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Why water is not used in thermometer?

Updated: 9/17/2023
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12y ago

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Well, Mercury can't freeze or evaporate at the temperature recorded on a standard thermometer.

If water were used in a thermometer, we wouldn't be able to record any temperatures below its freezing point (0 degrees Celsius) or above its boiling point (100 degrees Celsius.

Mercury has many unique properties. It is a liquid metal and as a metal it expands when heated. When the mercury is heated it rises in the thermometer. And markings on the glass indicate the temperature.

Water does not do this.

But now in this Digital World mercury has been loosing its importance just because everyone wants to use Digital Technology which provide fast and accurate reading and also safe in use, no doubt mercury provides an accurate reading of temperature but it is not fast and safe as compared to Digital Thermometer.

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Jaunita Hand

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2y ago
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12y ago

Unlike any other substance, it expands when it freezes.

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Q: Why water is not used in thermometer?
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Difference between laboratory and clinical thermometer?

A clinical thermometer is used to measure a human body, and the laboratory thermometer is used to boil water and other lab uses.


What kind of instrument is used to measure water temp?

thermometer


A thermometer is placed in water in order to measure the water temperature. What would cause the liquid in the thermometer to drop?

Water Temperaure cools


Why should a clinical thermometer not be sterilize in boiling water?

Because clinical thermometer have a very small range. (20 to 45 degrees Celsius at most) and if placed in boiling water, the water being 100 degrees will cause damage to the thermometer.


How do you tell how hot or cold something is?

use a thermometer.We can feel how hot or cold something is. However, sometimes things are just too hot or cold for us to feel safely. At other times we need to know exactly how hot or cold something is. When we need to measure temperature correctly we need to use an instrument called a thermometer. This measures temperature in degrees Celsius [sometimes called centigrade] or degrees Fahrenheit. There are different types of thermometers for different situations. A medical thermometer, for example, needs to be very accurate. It measures in fractions of degrees. When we are ill, even tiny changes in temperature are important. Some thermometers use a liquid that moves up a very fine glass tube. Most room thermometers, and outdoor thermometers are like this. The liquid is either mercury [ which is poisonous] or coloured alcohol. As liquids get warmer they expand [get bigger], and move up the tube. Water expands too, but not as much as alcohol and mercury. Thermometers that might be used by small children are not made of glass. They use a digital display which lights up the temperature. Inside the displays are chemicals that change colour according to the temperature.

Related questions

Why is distilled water used on a wet bulb thermometer?

it is used in a bulb thermometer because the molocules a still


Difference between laboratory and clinical thermometer?

A clinical thermometer is used to measure a human body, and the laboratory thermometer is used to boil water and other lab uses.


What is used to find out how hot boiling water in science?

a thermometer


What kind of instrument is used to measure water temp?

thermometer


What was the first liquid used in a thermometer?

The first thermometer was a tube filled with water and air.


What is used to measure heat in the air?

The best is a thermometer, another way to get the temperature outside is to pour water in a bowl, leave it out there for a couple of minutes and then take a thermometer and put it in the water.


What equipment is used to determine the boiling point of salt water and sugar water?

A thermometer!


Why is the thermometer not suitable to measure the freezing point and boiling point of water?

Although a thermometer CAN be used its presence affects the temperature.


A sentence for thermometer?

Here are three sentences using the word 'thermometer': "James used a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water." "It is important not to break the thermometer because the glass could cut you." "This thermometer is very old."


What tool do you use to measure how hot water is?

A thermometer is used to measure the temperature of hot water.


What was the first liquid used in the first ever thermometer?

Water - Galileo Galilei invented a rudimentary water thermometer in 1593 which, for the first time, allowed temperature variations to be measured


Is used to measure the amount of the water vapor in the atmosphere?

barometer/hygrometer/thermometer