Thermometers

Physics

Imran S Hoza

Thermometer
A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or a temperature
gradient. A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature
sensor (e.g. the bulb on a mercury-in-glass thermometer) in which some
physical change occurs with temperature, and (2) some means of converting
this physica l change into a numerical value (e.g. the visible scale that is
marked on a mercury-in-glass thermometer).
Types of Thermometers
Different types of thermometers are intended to be used to measure
different types of environments for temperature settings.
The Liquid in Glass Thermometer
The Liquid in Glass thermometer utilizes
the variation in volume of a liquid in
temperature. They use the fact that most
fluids expand on heating. The fluid is
contained in a sealed glass bulb, and its
expansion is measured using a scale
etched in the stem of the thermometer If we consider that the thermometer
does not expand then as physical property it utilizes the variation of length
of liquid with temperature. Liquid in Glass thermometers have been used in
science, medicine, metrology and industry for almost 300 years.
Liquids commonly used include Mercury and Alcohol.
Structure:
It has two basic parts:
The bulb: Acting as a reservoir holding the liquid whose volume
changes with temperature. The Bulb also acts as a sensor or gauge
which is inserted in the body whose temperature is to be measured.

The Stem: containing the scale that is measuring the temperature and
a capillary through which the liquid can accordingly expand and
contract

General Properties
Advantages:
They are cheap to manufacture
Easy to carry and handle.
Disadvantages:
They tend to have high heat capacities.
They are not sensitive enough, that is they cannot measure rapid
temperature changes.

The mercury-in-glass thermometer

Invented by German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, is a thermometer
consisting of mercury in a glass tube. Calibrated marks on the tube allow the
temperature to be read by the length of the mercury within the tube, which
varies according to the temperature. To increase the sensitivity, there is
usually a bulb of mercury at the end of the thermometer which contains
most of the mercury; expansion and contraction of this volume of mercury is
then amplified in the much narrower bore of the tube. The space above the
mercury may be filled with nitrogen or it may be a vacuum.
Range: Covering a wide temperature range from -38 C to 356 C, although
the introduction of a gas into the instrument can increase the range to 600
C or beyond.
Advantages:
1. Mercury is a naturally opaque liquid (Silver). This means that it can be
directly utilised in its pure form
2. Mercury does not wet glass. When it moves up and down in the
capillary strong cohesive properties of mercury do not allow it to leave
any traces on the inside of the capillary.
3. Mercury is a liquid metal. As a metal it has high conductive properties
that allow it to be more sensitive than the alcohol in glass
thermometer.
Disadvantages:
1. Mercury poses a potential toxic hazard if the glass container is
ruptured.

The alcohol in glass thermometer

As a liquid it utilises ethyl alcohol, toluene and technical pentane, which can
be used down to -200 C. The alcohol thermometer is an alternative to the
mercury-in-glass thermometer and has similar functions. Unlike the mercuryin-glass thermometer, the contents of an alcohol thermometer are less toxic
and will evaporate away fairly quickly. An organic liquid is contained in a
glass bulb which is connected to a capillary of the same glass and the end is
sealed with an expansion bulb. The space above the liquid is a mixture of
nitrogen and the vapor of the liquid. For the working temperature range, the
meniscus or interface between the liquid is within the capillary. With

increasing temperature, the volume of liquid expands and the meniscus

moves up the capillary. The position of the meniscus shows the temperature
against an inscribed scale.
Range c. -200 C to 80C, though range tends to be highly dependent on the
type of alcohol used.

Advantages:
1. It can measure very low temperatures.
Disadvantages:
1. Alcohol is transparent therefore it requires a dye to make it visible.
Dyes tend to add impurities that may not have the same temperature
range as the alcohol making reading difficult especially at the limits of
each liquid.
2. Alcohol wets glass.

Thermistor
A thermistor is a type of resistor whose resistance is
dependent on temperature, more so than in standard
resistors. The word is a portmanteau of thermal and
resistor. Thermistors are widely used as inrush current
limiter, temperature sensors (NTC type typically), selfresetting overcurrent protectors, and self-regulating
heating elements.
Thermistors differ from resistance temperature
detectors (RTDs) in that the material used in a
thermistor is generally a ceramic or polymer, while RTDs use pure metals.
The temperature response is also different; RTDs are useful over larger
temperature ranges, while thermistors typically achieve a greater precision
within a limited temperature range, typically 90 C to 130 C.
Advantages
1. Depending on the metal being used resistance thermometers are able
to cover extensive temperature ranges. Maximum values are generally
related to the melting points of the metal used.
2. Variation of resistance with temperature is stable over an extensive
temperature range.

3. Very accurate
Disadvantages
1. Compared to liquid in glass thermometers, they tend to be expensive.
2. Require other equipment to measure temperature.
3. They exhibit high heat capacities thus they are not sensitive to
temperature change meaning that they cannot be used to measure
rapid temperature changes.

Gas Thermometer
A gas thermometer
measures
temperature
by
the variation in
volume or pressure
of a gas. This
thermometer
functions
by
Charles's
Law.
Charles's
Law
states that when
the temperature of
a gas increases, so does the volume.
Using Charles's Law, the temperature can be measured by knowing the
volume of gas at a certain temperature by using the formula, written below.
Translating it to the correct levels of the device that is holding the gas. This is
works on the same principle as mercury thermometers.
Advantages:
1. It is very accurate. In fact its accuracy allows it to be utilised to
calibrate other thermometers.
Disadvantages:
1. It is not easy to handle and read.
2. It tends to be highly sensitive to temperature change, and mechanical
vibrations. In fact to give a reading it usually entails a lot of time.
3. Expensive to manufacture and keep.

Thermocouples
A thermocouple is a device
consisting
of
two
dissimilar
conductors or semiconductors that
contact each other at one or more
points. A thermocouple produces a
voltage when the temperature of
one of the contact points differs
from the temperature of another, in
a
process
known
as
the
thermoelectric
effect.
Thermocouples are a widely used type of temperature sensor for
measurement and control, and can also convert a temperature gradient into
electricity.
Commercial thermocouples are inexpensive, interchangeable, are supplied
with standard connectors, and can measure a wide range of temperatures. In
contrast to most other methods of temperature measurement,
thermocouples are self powered and require no external form of excitation.
The main limitation with thermocouples is accuracy; system errors of less
than one degree Celsius (C) can be difficult to achieve.
Advantages:
1. Cheap to manufacture.
2. The simplicity, ruggedness, low cost, small size and wide temperature
range of thermocouples make them the most common type of
temperature sensor in industrial use.
3. Low heat capacities making it capable of measuring rapid temperature
changes.
Disadvantages:
1. Sensitivity reduces accuracy.

Temperature Scales
There are three temperature scales in use today, Fahrenheit, Celsius and
Kelvin.
Fahrenheit temperature scale is a scale based on 32 for the freezing point of
water and 212 for the boiling point of water, the interval between the two
being divided into 180 parts. The 18th-century German physicist Daniel
Gabriel Fahrenheit originally took as the zero of his scale the temperature of
an equal ice-salt mixture and selected the values of 30 and 90 for the
freezing point of water and normal body temperature, respectively; these
later were revised to 32 and 96, but the final scale required an adjustment to
98.6 for the latter value.
Until the 1970s the Fahrenheit temperature scale was in general common
use in English-speaking countries; the Celsius, or centigrade, scale was
employed in most other countries and for scientific purposes worldwide.
Since that time, however, most English-speaking countries have officially
adopted the Celsius scale. The conversion formula for a temperature that is
expressed on the Celsius (C) scale to its Fahrenheit (F) representation is: F =
9/5C + 32.
Celsius temperature scale also called centigrade temperature scale, is the
scale based on 0 for the freezing point of water and 100 for the boiling point
of water. Invented in 1742 by the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, it is
sometimes called the centigrade scale because of the 100-degree interval
between the defined points. The following formula can be used to convert a
temperature from its representation on the Fahrenheit ( F) scale to the
Celsius (C) value: C = 5/9(F - 32). The Celsius scale is in general use
wherever metric units have become accepted, and it is used in scientific
work everywhere.
Kelvin temperature scale is the base unit of thermodynamic temperature
measurement in the International System (SI) of measurement. It is defined
as 1/ 273.16 of the triple point (equilibrium among the solid, liquid, and
gaseous phases) of pure water. The kelvin (symbol K without the degree sign
[]) is also the fundamental unit of the Kelvin scale, an absolute temperature
scale named for the British physicist William Thomson, Baron Kelvin. Such a
scale has as its zero point absolute zero, the theoretical temperature at
which the molecules of a substance have the lowest energy. Many physical
laws and formulas can be expressed more simply when an absolute
temperature scale is used; accordingly, the Kelvin scale has been adopted as
the international standard for scientific temperature measurement. The
Kelvin scale is related to the Celsius scale. The difference between the
freezing and boiling points of water is 100 degrees in each, so that the kelvin
has the same magnitude as the degree Celsius.