Different Types Of Thermometers And Their Applications
A thermometer is a universally accepted temperature measurement instrument used to measure temperature. Temperature is a physical quantity that refers to how hot or cold any substance is. It indicates the thermal energy that is present in every matter. This thermal energy is the heat generated when a body comes in contact with another body that is a bit colder or hotter than the former one.
Temperature is the measure of heat. As the heat increases, so do the temperature calculations is more.
This temperature is measured with the help of a thermometer. We use a thermometer device to measure the temperature of any object.
How Is Temperature Calculated With The Help Of Thermometers?
As seen above, the temperature is measured in the form of how hot or cold an object is. Temperature readings are given in the form of a mathematical expression that represents heat.
Temperature is measured in different types of units such as Celsius (˚C), Kelvin (K), and Fahrenheit (˚F).
The purpose of the temperature measurement requires thermometers to come in different forms.
Some thermometers measure body temperature, while some measure the boiling point or freezing point of substances during lab experiments.
In this article, we will concentrate on the different types of thermometers.
Types Of Thermometers
Let’s have a look at the different types of thermometers that are used almost daily in different industries:
• Clinical thermometer
• Surface thermometer
• Digital thermometer
• Infrared thermometer
• Mercury thermometer
• Penetration thermometer
• Immersion thermometer
We will look at the most popularly used thermometers of thermometers mentioned above.
Infrared thermometer
An infrared thermometer is a handheld device designed to measure the surface temperature of an object. When pointed at an object, it is a device that measures the object’s surface temperatures and displays the readings on its screen. It works much quicker than regular thermometers, and reading the results is extremely easy.
Infrared thermometers are also called non-contact thermometers, as they do not need to touch a particular object to measure its temperature. It gives accurate temperature readings just by pointing the device towards the object with the help of infrared radiation.
Mercury thermometer
Mercury thermometers are used to measure accurate temperature readings. It is used to measure the temperature under the arm, orally and rectally. It comprises a glass tube filled with mercury marked with a standard temperature scale.
As the temperature changes, the mercury starts to expand and contract, thus changing the readings on the scale.
Mercury thermometers are helpful to determine body, liquid, and vapor temperature.
Mercury thermometers are easily breakable and hence are not used in some sectors. Mercury is basically a poisonous substance that can cause health hazards if a person comes in contact with it.
Digital thermometer
Digital thermometers are the most popular ones used to measure the temperature utilizing an electronic circuit. It works similar to other thermometers, wherein the captured information is sent to a microchip that processes it and displays the reading in numerical form on the digital display screen.
The best thing about digital thermometers is that they are easy to handle, affordable, and capable of giving accurate readings compared to other thermometers. Digital thermometers are considered to be advanced thermometers with the latest added technology.
Laboratory Thermometers
A laboratory thermometer, also known as a lab thermometer, is used to measure temperatures other than the human body temperature. It ranges from -10˚C to 110˚C.
Laboratory thermometers are designed for usages in lab purposes, such as checking the boiling point, freezing point, or temperature of other substances.
Surface Thermometer
A surface thermometer is a device used to read the surface temperature of something. These devices may work by being left in direct contact with a surface, and they can also be remote, using non-contact methods to get information about temperature readings. A sensor on the thermometer provides feedback about fluctuations in temperature and may feed this information to a remote display, depending on the application.
Penetration Thermometer
Penetration or probe thermometers are explicitly designed to measure liquids and viscoplastic media such as meat, fish, dough, etc. For instance, insertion into yogurt or milk packaging enables the absolute core temperature of the product to be determined.
Immersion Thermometer
Immersion thermometers are used for measuring the temperature of liquids and viscoplastic substances. It comprises a probe tip designed for insertion. Immersion thermometers are ideal for laboratories, catering, industry, or heating technology applications.
Conclusion
The best thermometer is the one you can use most comfortably and accurately. It’s also helpful if your thermometer comes from a reliable manufacturer with standard quality. Different thermometers are used for different purposes.
The most popular of them are digital thermometers that can be used orally, rectally, or under the armpit. There are some no-contact temperature measurement instruments, known as infrared thermometers that are also popular these days, especially after the recent pandemic.
Depending on the purpose you can choose the best thermometer suited for it.
