Thermometers

Thermometers are devices which can measure temperature or measure the amount of heat in a specific body. The word thermometer is derived from Greek words; thermo which means heat and meter which means measure. Thermometers are divided into two kinds. The primary thermometers are used to measure heat of bodies even without any unknown quantities or amount. Example of things that are measured by primary thermometers are the electric currents and the angular anisotropy of gamma rays emitted by radioactive particles. Secondary thermometers on the other hand, are the type which we are most familiar with. Because of the convenience of these kinds of devices, they are the ones which are widely used by the majority of people including healthcare practitioners, industrial processes, science and technology researches, schools, and many others.

Secondary thermometers need to be calibrated against a primary thermometer. The goal that thermometer calibration intends to provide is to ensure accurate and consistent measurements. Such principles involving how to build a thermometer and thermometer invention, primary or secondary, have developed throughout the history of heat measurement. A more common secondary thermometer is the short and long stem thermometer with mercury inside. This mercury thermometer has graduation ranging from -10 °C to 110 °C or up to 200 °C and above.

In hospitals, different varieties of thermometers are used for both people and animals such as the ear thermometer. The basal thermometer is for fertility awareness and taylor thermometers in a digital form measures temperature and humidity of an environment. Another kind of thermometer with a special purpose is called the water thermometer. This is used to monitor the correct feeding temperature of fishes in an outdoor pond. As part of this monitoring, a thermometer worksheet is used to list the temperature and the time of feeding. People often use this as a reference for the future of their animal upbringing. The person who invented the water thermometer may have observed that overfeeding easily occurs at certain temperatures that result in water pollution. Underfeeding results in stunted growth, lack of vitality and resistance to diseases.

It is an important discovery that certain measurement of heat can be monitored and measured. This helps every one of us to go through a normal day. People in tropical countries, for example, find it very important to know the temperature and even the weather condition for the day because this is where they will base their planning and on how they will spend their day. These details only show that thermometers can be used in many other ways and in many other purposes.