That is why mercury is used in thermometers. One could discern that the temperature is high when the material would radiate hues of blue and that the temperature is low when it would radiate hues of red. One of them is fixed. It is identified by its familiar silver metallic color. There are a number of different model types, sizes, and specifications, but the general operating principle is about the same in all cases. Imagine two thin wires inside the capillary of your thermometer. Therefore, initially, thermometers defined temperatures. It is used in thermometers because it has a high coefficient of expansion which makes it easy to move in the thermometers as per the temperatures. When two bodies touch, their temperature adjusts, which means that the colder gets warmer, the warmer gets colder. It consists of a bulb containing mercury attached to a glass tube of narrow diameter; the volume of mercury in the tube is much less than the volume in the bulb. Why is mercury used in thermometer ? They will be replaced with newer technology such as digital devices, but they will be missed. The increase in volume is evident in solids, such as metallic railway tracks, rubber tires and fluids like water, alcohol, mercury and halogen. This prevents … Mercury boils at 674ᵒF (78.37ᵒC). BUT is mercury also used because the pressure of 760 mm of Hg is … Why Are There Stones Along Railway Tracks? In the above section we have seen that the Mercury thermometer measures the lower temperatures upto -38.8 °C. Do you know the reason behind usage of mercury in thermometer? The break in the column of mercury is visible. Mercury and its compounds have the ability to cause severe neurological problems and other serious symptoms in humans when they are exposed to it. When the thermoscope touched a hot or cold surface, the air would expand or contract, causing the air-water interface to fluctuate. Mercury is a highly toxic liquid; therefore, it should be handled with care especially if the thermometer is broken. Hence, the slightest change in temperature is notable when it's used in a thermometer… Sol: There are many reasons for using mercury as a thermometric liquid, here are listed a few: Mercury has high melting and boiling points making it a liquid over a broad range of temperature. Disadvantages of a Mercury Thermometer: it took a Long time to measure the body temperature. The mercury thermometer has been used in our life quite much a long time, but it is being taken over by digital thermometers today. Still, despite their small flaws, mercury thermometers are regarded to be one of the most accurate thermometers available. But the maximum temperature measured by an alcohol thermometer is 78.5°C; hence this thermometer is suitable for measuring lower temperatures. mercury doesn't boil until 611 degrees Fahrenheit (357 degrees Celsius), and it doesn't stick to glass. In a mercury thermometer, a small glass cylinder is filled with mercury, and a standardized temperature scale is marked on the tube. The reading would be effectively undisturbed, making the thermometer superiorly reliable. Dec 20,2020 - Why mercury is used in thermometer? Electronic Thermometers. We measure this temperature by measuring expansion of a liquid in thermometer. Mercury thermometers are used in households, laboratory experiments, and industrial applications. The small silvery ball in a mercury thermometer can be dangerous if the glass breaks and the mercury is not cleaned up properly. The only trouble with alcohol as a measuring instrument, however, is that it reacts to changes in temperature too quickly. credit: medicalindicators.com. Graphene: The Material That’s Going To Change The Future. The mercury-in-glass or mercury thermometer was invented by physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in Amsterdam. Mercury has quite a few advantages in a thermometer, but other liquids, including water can be used. What Is The Fibonacci Sequence? How Do We Get Wool From Sheep And How It Is Converted Into Clothes. Lastly, you do not need an external power source like a battery or electricity to run a mercury thermometer. By confining the mercury to a container of known dimensions, one can determine the ambient temperature based on how much volume a … On the other hand, alcohol poses no such threat. What’s more, alcohol’s freezing point is an astonishing -115ᵒC compared to mercury’s -40ᵒC. The substance expands and moves up the thermometer. Therefore, initially, thermometers defined temperatures. What is Quantum Entanglement: Explained in Simple Words, Thermoelectric Generator: Principle, Mechanism And Materials. However, if something as rich and cheap as water can be so effective, why do we insist on using something as rare and expensive as mercury? Many older thermometers contained mercury. We could have used a material that changes color when subjected to heat. What Is The Huntsman Spider? One gram of mercury can contaminate a 20 acre lake, enough to cause a public advisory to be issued on the potential dangers of eating fish caught in that lake. Heat makes atoms move about more rapidly, thus increasing the kinetic energy in a substance. While nothing can be done about mercury’s rarity, expensiveness and toxicity, one can still overcome its thermal limitations. Materials, when under constant pressure, expand when subjected to heat because the heat elevates the kinetic energy of its atoms, causing them to violently move and therefore separate from each other. Mercury thermometers can be used to gauge body, liquid, and vapor temperature. Why Is Mercury Used In Thermometers? Unlike mercury in the mercury thermometer, alcohol is less toxic and evaporates quickly. This is how every sealed thermometer with liquid works. why is mercury used in thermometer. It is a shining metal and when it expands, the expansion can be easily seen. Enamored with science ever since discovering a picture book about Saturn at the age of 7, he believes that what fundamentally fuels this passion is his curiosity and appetite for wonder. Why is mercury used in thermometer ? This means you can subject the mercury in a thermometer to heat and it will react. Here you will come to know the reason why alcohol is used in Thermometers. Mercury is used in a thermometer because it has a lot of advantages. Mercury thermometers have long been considered the most accurate liquid-filed types. Here we would like to analyze the reasons why digital thermometers are better than normal mercury thermometers on the three aspects below. Why Is Mercury Used In Thermometers? 2 Compare that meager boiling point to mercury’s incredible 356.7ᵒC boiling point! This is how every sealed thermometer with liquid works. Answer: Mostly Alcohol and Mercury are used in thermometers as they remain in liquid form even with a change of temperature in them. This was the first thermometer because it was marked with a scale. Also, it is not toxic. Mercury can detect even a very small temperature change. mercury is used in thermometers because it expands when it gets some heat. You can use one to detect a fever, and people also often use them in cooking in order to determine if a roast is cooked to the proper temperature. Answer Mercury is one of the few elemental substances that is liquid at room temperature. It expands on providing heat to it. Mankind learned about thermodynamic temperature centuries after the first thermometer was invented. Mercury is used in thermometers eventhough its a bad conductor of heat due to its really high sensitivity towards heat,mercury expands significantly even for a small rise in temperature for which other metals show no or relatively smaller change . Each thermometer contains about .5-1.5 grams of mercury. Alcohol was discovered as being great for this back in the 1700s. However, alcohol is so sensitive that these changes cause the alcohol in the tube to behave almost turbulently. Mercury has a lower coefficient of expansion, compared with alcohol. How Big Is It and Does It Bite? A lab might be required to be sealed for hours if a mercury thermometer breaks, considering that inhaling mercury can cause health serious problems. Why Is Mercury Used In Thermometers? However, mercury is mildly toxic, and mercury has only been used in clinical thermometers if protected from breakage of the tube. Before mercury came along in thermometers, alcohol was discovered as a substance that was great for measuring temperatures. Mercury has a higher coefficient of expansion than water, which means that changes in its volume with temperature are more noticeable. When put under the armpit, the mercury in the clinical … Why mercury is used as a thermometric fluid ? mercury has a liquid form at room temperature and doesn't become a solid until it reaches -38 degrees Fahrenheit (-39 degrees Celsius). 1. Mercury thermometers are being phased out as the metal is toxic if the thermometer breaks. Mercury is available in pure form. To avoid this unreliability, Dutch inventor Danie Fahrenheit replaced alcohol with mercury. This means that mercury thermometers cannot measure temperatures below -40ᵒC, a temperature not all that rare in science laboratories or a superconductor technology manufacturing industry. Mercury is used in thermometers because. Mercury is a neurotoxin, and if you are exposed to it outside of its typical glass thermometer tube, it can cause you to go deaf, experience tremors, memory loss, and partial blindness, among other awful permanent side effects. These devices weren’t calibrated to a standard scale; they would just make crude or vague assessments.The in… Mercury Thermometer. The first thermometers, however, weren’t thermos or heat measurers, but thermo-scopes, devices that merely signaled whether the temperature was high or low. Glass thermometers can break and cause the person injury, and some contain mercury, which is poisonous; ones containing mercury, in particular, are no longer recommended. Mercury is opaque and bright, so the movement of mercury inside the capillary tube is easily visible. Thermometers are a useful thing to have in your home. The other wire is can move along a threaded rod. Mercury was used in old thermometers because mercury expands when it reaches a certain temperature, so it was a really good "gauge".