To read a Mercury thermometer accurately, hold it at eye level and make sure the mercury level is below your body temperature. Wait for a few minutes for the mercury to stabilize, then read the temperature at the point where the mercury stops. Be sure to note the temperature in whole numbers and avoid parallax errors by looking straight at the thermometer.
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To read a glass thermometer accurately, hold it at eye level and look at the level of the liquid inside the tube. The temperature is where the liquid stops rising. Make sure the thermometer is clean and not tilted for an accurate reading.
The liquid in a glass thermometer, commonly alcohol or mercury, expands and contracts with changes in temperature, allowing the thermometer to accurately measure temperature. Alcohol has a lower boiling point than mercury, making it safer for home use. Alcohol thermometers are typically red-colored to make them easier to read.
The least count of a thermometer is the smallest temperature difference that it can measure accurately. Typically, for a standard mercury-in-glass thermometer, the least count is 0.1°C.
Mercury in a thermometer expands and contracts with changes in temperature. As the temperature rises, the mercury expands and rises in the tube, and as the temperature falls, the mercury contracts and lowers in the tube. This movement is then converted into a temperature reading on the scale of the thermometer, allowing for accurate temperature measurement.
Mercury does not touch the walls of a thermometer because it expands when heated, filling the space within the thermometer tube without coming into contact with the walls. This expansion is what allows mercury to accurately measure changes in temperature by rising and falling within the tube.