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By the end of this section, you will be able to:
  • Describe several different types of thermometers
  • Convert temperatures between the Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin scales

Any physical property that depends consistently and reproducibly on temperature can be used as the basis of a thermometer. For example, volume increases with temperature for most substances. This property is the basis for the common alcohol thermometer and the original mercury thermometers. Other properties used to measure temperature include electrical resistance, color, and the emission of infrared radiation ( [link] ).

Figure a is a photograph of an alcohol in glass thermometer. Figure b shows a strip with six squares. Each square is labeled with a temperature in degree Celsius from 35 to 40 and the corresponding temperature in degree Farhenheit. It has the words forehead temperature indicator. Figure c is the photograph of a person holding a pyrometer close to a ventilation system outlet.
Because many physical properties depend on temperature, the variety of thermometers is remarkable. (a) In this common type of thermometer, the alcohol, containing a red dye, expands more rapidly than the glass encasing it. When the thermometer’s temperature increases, the liquid from the bulb is forced into the narrow tube, producing a large change in the length of the column for a small change in temperature. (b) Each of the six squares on this plastic (liquid crystal) thermometer contains a film of a different heat-sensitive liquid crystal material. Below 95 ° F , all six squares are black. When the plastic thermometer is exposed to a temperature of 95 ° F , the first liquid crystal square changes color. When the temperature reaches above 96.8 ° F , the second liquid crystal square also changes color, and so forth. (c) A firefighter uses a pyrometer to check the temperature of an aircraft carrier’s ventilation system. The pyrometer measures infrared radiation (whose emission varies with temperature) from the vent and quickly produces a temperature readout. Infrared thermometers are also frequently used to measure body temperature by gently placing them in the ear canal. Such thermometers are more accurate than the alcohol thermometers placed under the tongue or in the armpit. (credit b: modification of work by Tess Watson; credit c: modification of work by Lamel J. Hinton)

Thermometers measure temperature according to well-defined scales of measurement. The three most common temperature scales are Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin. Temperature scales are created by identifying two reproducible temperatures. The freezing and boiling temperatures of water at standard atmospheric pressure are commonly used.

On the Celsius scale    , the freezing point of water is 0 ° C and the boiling point is 100 ° C . The unit of temperature on this scale is the degree Celsius     ( ° C ) . The Fahrenheit scale    (still the most frequently used for common purposes in the United States) has the freezing point of water at 32 ° F and the boiling point at 212 ° F . Its unit is the degree Fahrenheit    ( ° F ). You can see that 100 Celsius degrees span the same range as 180 Fahrenheit degrees. Thus, a temperature difference of one degree on the Celsius scale is 1.8 times as large as a difference of one degree on the Fahrenheit scale, or Δ T F = 9 5 Δ T C .

The definition of temperature in terms of molecular motion suggests that there should be a lowest possible temperature, where the average kinetic energy of molecules is zero (or the minimum allowed by quantum mechanics). Experiments confirm the existence of such a temperature, called absolute zero    . An absolute temperature scale    is one whose zero point is absolute zero. Such scales are convenient in science because several physical quantities, such as the volume of an ideal gas, are directly related to absolute temperature.

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Source:  OpenStax, University physics volume 2. OpenStax CNX. Oct 06, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col12074/1.3
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