What liquid is in thermometers?
mercury thermometer
Does a thermometer measure thermal energy?
A thermometer is a glass tube filled with a liquid (mercury) which expands or contracts depending on the temperature of the object it is in contact with. It measures the average kinetic energy (one type of thermal energy) of the molecules of a substance in degrees Fahrenheit (F) or Celsius (C).
How are the three temperature scales alike How are they different?
What is similar and different about the three temperature scales? They are all based off of the freezing and boiling points of water, however they all define them as different numbers. The higher the temperature of an object, the more kinetic energy the particles have.
Do thermometers have mercury?
Most oral and rectal thermometers contain about 0.5-0.6 grams of mercury. Mercury is not absorbed through intact skin or from a healthy digestive tract in amounts that would cause toxic effects.
How do I know if my mercury thermometer is broken?
If there is a paper calibration strip inside of the thermometer that includes the words “mercury free,” then the liquid in the thermometer is not mercury. If you do NOT see the words “mercury free,” then assume that the liquid is mercury.
What happens if you break a mercury thermometer?
When elemental mercury is spilled or a device containing mercury breaks, the exposed elemental mercury can evaporate and become an invisible, odorless toxic vapor. This happens with the most known devices such as barometers, blood pressure gauges, thermometers, etc.
How dangerous is it to break a mercury thermometer?
If you break a mercury thermometer or light bulb, a small amount of liquid mercury may spill out. Liquid mercury can separate into small beads, which can roll some distance away. The mercury may also evaporate into vapour. However, this small amount of mercury is extremely unlikely to cause problems for your health.
Can you die from mercury in a thermometer?
Fortunately, elemental mercury from a thermometer is not absorbed from the stomach and will not cause any poisoning in a healthy person. Mercury is not well absorbed across the skin so skin contact is not likely to cause mercury poisoning, especially with a brief one-time exposure.
What happens if we drink mercury?
“Drinking mercury has a laxative effect,” explains the toxicologist Gebel. “Its density cleans the intestine wonderfully.” The effect is completely different when mercury is inhaled. As a vapor, the mercury is inhaled as individual atoms and quickly absorbed by the lungs where its poisonous effects begin to develop.
Is mercury toxic to humans?
Elemental and methylmercury are toxic to the central and peripheral nervous systems. The inhalation of mercury vapour can produce harmful effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, lungs and kidneys, and may be fatal.
Is it OK to touch mercury?
It’s never safe to touch mercury. Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature. In its liquid metal form, mercury absorbs instantly into the skin; but it also has an extremely high vapor pressure, so an open container of mercury disperses the metal into the air.
Does the human body need mercury?
It has no known function in our bodies. Once mercury enters bodies of water, bacteria convert it into this toxic form, which is then carried up the food web into top predator species like sport fishes.
How long does it take to detox from mercury?
However, blood levels of certain types of mercury decrease rapidly within three to five days.
Which foods are high in mercury?
King mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish, ahi tuna, and bigeye tuna all contain high levels of mercury.
Why is eating mercury bad?
Methylmercury is highly toxic, causing serious health problems when it reaches certain levels in your body. Mercury is a naturally occurring heavy metal. It can build up in the bodies of fish in the form of methylmercury, which is highly toxic.