You may not realize it, but there are many different types of thermometers around you. A thermometer detects or measures a change in temperature. Some thermometers are better at accurately measuring the temperature of something - these would be used for measuring your body temperature to see if you had a fever, measuring the temperature outside, or measuring the temperature of meat to make sure it is cooked thoroughly. Others are better at controlling the temperature at a set level - these would be utilized in refrigerators, ovens, and furnaces. However, both types of thermometers work differently.
The bulb thermometer is the common glass thermometer that you may be most familiar with. Perhaps you were sick and used this type of thermometer to see if you had a fever. It contains a fluid, which in principle changes its volume relative to its temperature - this simply means that the fluid will occupy less space when it is cold and it will occupy more space when it is warm. So when the thermometer is in contact with something warm, the fluid will expand and rise up the glass column where the corresponding temperature can be read. Mercury used to be the fluid of choice for these types of thermometers, but nowadays most bulb thermometers use a non-mercury fluid since mercury is toxic
A bimetallic strip thermometer is good at controlling temperature and like its name suggests is made of two different metals (usually steel and copper). The two metals are bonded together and either left as a strip or coiled. The metals expand at different rates as they are heated. The different expansions cause the flat strip to bend one way if heated or bend the opposite direction if cooled below its normal temperature. When the strip is bent, it can make contact so that a current related to the temperature can flow. The temperature can be controlled by adjusting the size of the gap between the strip and the contact.
These types of thermometers work very differently but are equally important. Try to identify which type of thermometer is used in the many different devices that you encounter in your everyday life that utilize temperature to function.
Little Lion Experiment:
In this experiment you will make a simple bulb thermometer, which will mimic how a typical bulb thermometer works.
Items Needed
- Clear, plastic bottle (water bottle would work!)
- Cold water
- Rubbing alcohol (make sure to get help from an adult with this!)
- Clear, plastic drinking straw
- Modeling clay or silly putty
- Food coloring
Procedures
- Fill the bottle with equal parts water and rubbing alcohol until the bottle is 25% full.
- Add a few drops of food coloring.
- Put the straw in the bottle, but don't let it touch the bottom.
- Use the modeling clay to seal the neck of the bottle so the straw stays in place (i.e., keeping the straw from touching the bottom of the bottle).
- Hold your hands on the bottom of the bottle.
What happened? Did the liquid mixture move up the straw? Why do you think this happened? When you put your hands on the bottle, you heated up the water. As we discussed above, liquid mixtures will generally expand when they are heated. So as your hands heated the water/alcohol mixture, the mixture expanded and could no longer fit in the bottom of the bottle causing it to move up the through the straw. Try sitting the bottle in the sun. Did this cause the mixture to move up the straw more?
