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A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer or the pyrometric sensor in an infrared thermometer) in which some change occurs with a change in temperature; and (2) some means of converting this change into a numerical value (e.g. the visible scale that is marked on a mercury ...
Such thermometers are usually calibrated so that one can read the temperature simply by observing the level of the fluid in the thermometer. Another type of thermometer that is not really used much in practice, but is important from a theoretical standpoint, is the gas thermometer. Other important devices for measuring temperature include:
Many scientific measurements use the Kelvin temperature scale (unit symbol: K), named in honor of the physicist who first defined it. It is an absolute scale. Its numerical zero point, 0 K, is at the absolute zero of temperature. Since May 2019, the kelvin has been defined through particle kinetic theory, and statistical mechanics.
A Celsius Galilean thermometer in two degree gradations. A risen orange orb denotes 24 °C. A Galileo thermometer (or Galilean thermometer) is a thermometer made of a sealed glass cylinder containing a clear liquid and several glass vessels of varying density. The individual floats rise or fall in proportion to their respective density and the ...
This definition also precisely related the Celsius scale to the Kelvin scale, which defines the SI base unit of thermodynamic temperature with symbol K. Absolute zero, the lowest temperature possible, is defined as being exactly 0 K and −273.15 °C. Until 19 May 2019, the temperature of the triple point of water was defined as exactly 273.16 ...
Mechanical thermostats commonly use bimetallic strips, converting a temperature change into mechanical displacement, to actuate control of the heating or cooling sources. Electronic thermostats, instead, use a thermistor or other semiconductor sensor, processing temperature change as electronic signals, to control the heating or cooling equipment.
A sailor checking the temperature of a ventilation system. Some typical circumstances are where the object to be measured is moving; where the object is surrounded by an electromagnetic field, as in induction heating; where the object is contained in a vacuum or another controlled atmosphere; or in applications where a fast response is required, the accurate surface temperature is desired or ...
Detail of the thermometer bulbs of the maximum-minimum thermometer shown above. The left-hand (minimum arm) bulb is full of alcohol. This bulb measures the temperature by the expansion and contraction of the liquid. The right-hand (maximum arm) bulb contains alcohol and a bubble of low-pressure gas or alcohol vapor.