Thermometer or thermometer - which is correct? What is the difference between a thermometer and a thermometer

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

What do you think of when you hear the word "thermometer"? And with the phrase "street thermometer"? Everyone in his life has come across these devices, but he doesn’t really know what the difference is between them. Maybe there is no difference? In this article you will get answers to all your questions.

What is the difference between a thermometer and a thermometer?

Have you been corrected at least once in your life, saying that a thermometer is not a thermometer, and vice versa? Maybe yes. In every house you can see a mercury or electronic thermometer to measure body temperature, and outside the window there will be a thermometer that measures air temperature. But why are these devices called by different words? Which is correct, "thermometer" or "thermometer"? Let's find out.

Thermometer or thermometer? What's the right way?

Thermometer is a device with which you can measure the temperature of the body, air, soil, water, etc. A thermometer is nothing but an absolute synonym for the word "thermometer". People began to call him a thermometer, let's say so,and this name came from the word "degree" (for example, "street thermometer").

Specialists often use the term "thermometer", and the name of the device was given by scientists back in the 17th century. At home, you can measure body temperature with a thermometer or thermometer - how to do it right? Consider below.

Measuring body temperature at home

There are two types of thermometers for measuring human body temperature: mercury and electronic. Mercury has been familiar to us since childhood and is more familiar, but it is less practical to use, since it takes at least 7 minutes to determine the temperature. In addition, it is glass and can easily break, and mercury is almost impossible to collect completely. Mercury vapor is very toxic and dangerous to human he alth, especially children.

An electronic thermometer is more expensive than a mercury thermometer, its temperature readings are not entirely accurate, but it is much safer to use such a device. In addition, it takes only about a minute to determine the temperature with an electronic thermometer, and at the end of the measurement, the device gives a signal, which is very convenient.

History of the thermometer

Galileo Galilei is a remarkable scientist and inventor, it was he who discovered the thermometer. There is no description of this invention in his own writings, but his students testified that Galileo created something like a thermoscope.

It happened in 1597, the device looked like a glass ball withtube. During the experiment, the end of the tube was lowered into the water, the ball was heated, the air inside the ball changed its pressure, respectively, and the volume - the water rose up the tube. The thermoscope showed only the change in the degree of cooling and heating of the body without specific numbers, because it did not have a scale.

60 years later, in 1657, Florentine scientists were able to improve Galileo's thermoscope. They installed a scale on the device and evacuated the air from the tube and the ball - the quality of temperature measurement immediately increased. Next, they changed the thermoscope again, turning it upside down and filling it with brandy.

There are several other names credited with creating the thermometer: Robert Fludd, Scarpi, Solomon de Kaus, Lord Bacon, Sanctorius, Cornelius Drebbel. All sources indicate only air thermometers, consisting of a tank and a tube.

In 1667, a liquid thermometer was first described. At first, water was taken as a liquid, but a vessel burst from freezing, so they began to use wine alcohol. In Paris in 1703, the air thermometer was again improved by the scientist Amonton, who first measured the degree of air elasticity.

Modern thermometer

Fahrenheit brought a key change, giving the thermometer a modern look. Initially, he also filled tanks and tubes with alcohol, but settled on mercury. In 1723, Fahrenheit first described his version of collecting a thermometer, and the specimens that have survived to this day are consideredingeniously put together.

In 1742, the well-known scale on the thermometer was installed for all of us. Anders Celsius - a Swedish astronomer, meteorologist and geologist - finally determined two constant points on the thermometer scale (the point of boiling and freezing of water). But in the beginning, 0° indicated the boiling point, and 100° indicated the freezing point.

Later, after the death of Anders Celsius, his compatriots Carl Linnaeus and Morten Strömer turned the scale upside down (0 began to be considered the freezing temperature, and 100 - boiling water). Such a scale seemed convenient and is still used (for example, in a thermometer for measuring body temperature).

Reaumur's research led to a new kind of scale, but it was a step backwards from Fahrenheit's research. The thermometer made by Réaumur was huge, and the method of division on the scale was inaccurate. After Réaumur and Fahrenheit, artisans made thermometers for sale.

Types of thermometers

It is not so important to know how to use a thermometer or a thermometer, it is much more important to be able to use it, given its varieties:

• gas;
• electric;
• fiber optic;
• liquid;
• mechanical;
• thermoelectric;
• infrared.

Next, we will consider in detail all types of devices.

Gas thermometer

The principle of operation of a gas thermometer is the same as in liquid ones, but the tank is filled with gas. The advantage of such a flask filler is that the measuring range is increasedtemperature. Gas thermometers are used to determine extremely high temperatures, reaching +1000 °C.

Electronic thermometer

Works by changing the degree of resistance of the conductor in different temperature conditions: when the metal is heated, the resistance to current transfer increases. The temperature range depends on which metal is used as the conductor.

The running metal is copper, in its range the minimum temperature is -50 °С, the maximum is +180 °С. Thermometers on platinum indicate a range from -200 ° C to +750 ° C, but such thermometers are more expensive. In everyday life, an electronic thermometer with a remote sensor is very popular now, it is most often used for a bath - the temperature can be controlled from the outside.

Fiber optic thermometer

Manufactured using optical fiber. Very accurate sensors of this device allow you to measure the temperature with minimal error. The fiber is stretched or compressed as the temperature changes, and the beam of light that passes through the fiber is detected by a sensor.

Liquid thermometer

This is the most ancient type of thermometer, which works by expanding or contracting the liquid in the flask. The level of the liquid in the vessel rises as the temperature rises, and thanks to the scale it can be measured. These devices are very accurate, but not very practical. They are used not only as thermometers to measure body temperature, but also air, water, etc. in various fields of activity.

Mechanical thermometer

Principlethe action of such a thermometer: the arrow on the scale moves due to a change in the physical parameters of the metal wire (spiral). The device resembles a clock with an arrow and is used in various special equipment. An important advantage of mechanical thermometers is their practicality and durability, they are not afraid of shaking and bumps, like glass models.

Thermoelectric thermometer

There are 2 conductors in the design of the thermometer, with their help the temperature is measured according to the Seebeck effect (physical principle). Such devices have a huge temperature detection range (from -100 °C to +2500 °C). The measurement error is no more than 0.01 °C.

Infrared thermometer

Often used as a thermometer to measure body temperature. The most modern thermometer is infrared. The temperature range can reach up to +3000 °C. In medicine, electronic thermometers are used less and less, and infrared (non-contact) is gaining popularity. The advantages of this device is that readings are taken without direct contact with the body. This makes it possible to use such a thermometer in dozens of fields of activity: for example, to determine the temperature of a flame or metal in an engine case.