Comments on: why would you use an alchol thermometer rather than a mercury one to measure the temperature in a freezer?

By: Examiner

Examiner — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:24:32 +0000

Assuming the themometer doesn’t get broken accidentally there is a small chance that the mercury may freeze (at about -38 C). However as most freezers are not able to reach this temperature the risk is small. There is no risk of an alcohol thermometer freezing as alcohol has a much lower freezing point. From a health and safety point of view if the mercury thermometer were to be broken it would pose a moderate health risk with contamination of the food and would be very difficult to recover all the spilled mercury.

By: Tosin A

Tosin A — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:24:03 +0000

mercury and alcohol thermometer have different function even thou they are both use for measuring temperature. alcohol thermometer have a greater advantage over Mercury to measure a very low degree temperature (-180 degree) . so it is advisable and the best method to measure the temperature in the freezer.

By: drummer boy

drummer boy — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:07:42 +0000

i don’t know, but all these people saying mercury is so poisonos are stupid, is its so bad why aren’t all our parents dead, they played with mercury when they broke thermometers as kids and nothing happened to them

By: Longjohn

Longjohn — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:00:32 +0000

Mercury freezing point: -38.72 degrees C

A mercury thermometer will probably lose accuracy somewhat above the freezing point, because as one approaches the phase
transition from liquid to solid, one loses the linear dependence
of the column length on temperature.

Alcohol’s freezing point is -117 degrees therefore it doesn’t get cold enough to freeze alcohol.

Therefore alcohol is better at low temperatures

By: Kes

Kes — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:25:57 +0000

Both elemental mercury and its vapors are toxic, especially to the nervous system. If you break a mercury thermometer in a freezer you should throw out all the food. If you break an alcohol thermometer you need to get all the broken glass. Mercury thermometers are used to take oral temperature but precautions are taken to avoid breaking the thermometer. Rectal temperature may be taken instead of oral if the patient (child, etc.) can not cooperate in safety measures. Mercury works better in medical thermometers because the column will separate in a narrowing of the tube to preserve the highest temperature read until it can be recorded.

As they said about the little boy who bit the thermometer, “It was a chilly day for Willie the day the mercury went down.”

By: veggiekayak

veggiekayak — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:48:48 +0000

pure alcohol doesn’t freeze or the temperature is much lower for freezing

good luck with your homework

By: mydogsfarted

mydogsfarted — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:53:10 +0000

If it breaks it won’t contaminate the food in the freezer

By: the devil in you

the devil in you — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:19:38 +0000

i know mercury is poisonous, so that could be a benefit of using alcohol.