Will the temperature of a thermometer rise if you wrap a fur coat around it?

Answer 1

I'm sure your teacher thought he (or she) was being clever when he asked you that. It's sort of a trick question. He's expecting you to say yes, because people associate fur with increased warmth, so he's going to tell you that the correct answer is no. But the correct answer is that it depends on the temperature of the air trapped inside the fur before it was wrapped around the thermometer. This requires some explanation. If the thermometer and the fur are in the same room and have been for a while, then we can assume that the temperature indicated by the thermometer is also the temp of the fur. Wrapping the fur around the thermometer, in that case, will do nothing to raise the temp of the thermometer, because the fur is not a source of heat energy. It merely insulates the thermometer from the environment outside the fur. If, however, the thermometer were outside in the winter and the fur were in your cozy, warm house, wrapping the thermometer with that fur would raise the temp of the thermometer somewhat, because it would change to read the temp of the air trapped by the fur.