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All 'old' thermometers measure temperature as a difference between the thermal expansion of two substances.

Every substance expands at a slightly different rate. Mercury, for example, expands at a large and consistent rate; while glass hardly expands at all. This makes them a very accurate combination in a thermometer (at low temperatures, -20 to 150 deg C 'ish).

Other thermometers use two strips of different metals stuck together, like a double layered cake. When heated or cooled one strip expands more than the other so the strips will curl, the amount of curl indicates how much the temperature has changed.

The best substances for 'old' thermometers have a high (fast) thermal conductivity.

Modern inferred (laser) thermometers measure the amount of heat being emitted by an object. Essentially it measures the total energy of photons being emitted by a given area. NB. the laser is just used to help aim the thermometer; it plays no part in the actual measurement.

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