Why is alcohol thermometer used in Antarctica?
For measuring very low temperatures, alcohol is used because it solidifies at a much lower temperature, i.e., 114∘C. The temperature in Arctic and Antarctic may fall below −80∘C, so in these regions, an alcohol thermometer would be used in place of a mercury thermometer.
What kind of thermometer is used for Antarctica?
What are the advantages of alcohol thermometer?
A thermometer comparison
| advantages | disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Alcohol thermometer (compared to a mercury thermometer) | |
| lower freezing point (-114 �C) | less durable (alcohol evaporates) |
| larger coefficient of expansion | alcohol can polymerise |
| less hazardous | fluid loss by evaporation hard to avoid |
Why are thermometers filled with alcohol instead of water?
For a thermometer that means it rises in the tube it’s enclosed in. Alcohol is used instead of water because it has a very low freezing point which makes it suitable for use in very cold places.
How accurate are alcohol thermometers?
A new Brown-Spirit thermometer has a maximum range greater than 300° C but the accuracy limit can be ± 5°C at high temperatures. If scientific procedures cannot be performed with non-mercury thermometers, Teflon coated mercury thermometers should be used.
What will happen if we overheat an alcohol thermometer?
When cooled the liquid can simply shrink back down. With substantial overtemperature, though, that is not enough. The liquid will start to generate a vapor pressure inside the closed space, and that pressure will rise a lot at high temperature.
Which thermometer is most sensitive?
By exploiting the difference between the speed of two different beams of colored light when traveling through a heated crystalline disk, University of Adelaide researchers claim to have produced the world’s most sensitive thermometer – with an accuracy of 30 billionths of a degree.
Why do thermometers use alcohol or mercury instead of water?
Mercury is the only one in liquid state at room temperature. It’s used in thermometers because it has high coefficient of expansion. Hence, the slightest change in temperature is notable when it’s used in a thermometer. It also has a high boiling point which makes it very suitable to measure higher temperatures.
Can we use alcohol instead of mercury in thermometers?
Alcohol thermometers are used rather than mercury thermometers in very cold regions because alcohol has a lower freezing point than mercury. Pure ethanol freezes at -115 degrees C, while mercury freezes at -38 degrees C. Thermometers rely upon thermal expansion of the liquid in a bulb at the base of a thin glass tube.
Are alcohol thermometers dangerous?
Unlike the mercury-in-glass thermometer, the contents of an alcohol thermometer are less toxic and will evaporate quickly.
Are mercury thermometers better than alcohol?
Mercury has a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than alcohol. This means a column of mercury will expand and rise more than a column of alcohol for the same temperature change. As a result, you can get finer readings with mercury. However, clinical mercury thermometers are on the decline.
Can you fix an alcohol thermometer?
Heating–Heating the thermometer bulb is often the quickest and most successful method of repairing column separations. For a minimum (alcohol) thermometer, heat the bulb in the above manner until the main column enters but does not completely fill the expansion chamber.
Why are alcohol thermometers used in very cold places?
Alcohol thermometers are used rather than mercury thermometers in very cold regions because alcohol has a lower freezing point than mercury. Pure ethanol freezes at -115 degrees C, while mercury freezes at -38 degrees C.
Which is more durable, mercury or alcohol thermometer?
It is more durable than alcohol thermometer because mercury does not evaporate easily. It is smaller in size as compared to alcohol one. Mercury does not wet the wall of the thermometer, which means that results can be highly accurate.
What is the freezing point of ethanol in a thermometer?
The physical limitation of the ability of a thermometer to measure low temperature is the freezing point of the liquid used. Ethanol freezes at −114.9 °C (−174.82 °F).
Who was the first person to invent the alcohol thermometer?
History. Other sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica, credit German scientist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit with inventing the alcohol thermometer in 1709. Fahrenheit was a skilled glassblower and his alcohol thermometer was the world’s first reliable thermometer.