The standard mercury thermometer and the relatively new digital thermometer used by doctors and nurses are common to many people. However, there are actually various kinds of thermometers for different environments and applications. They have a wide range of applications, including medical, research, and engineering, mainly for measuring temperature.
Why are digital thermometers replacing the mercury thermometers?
Gadgets Radar
Mercury thermometers have been around for quite some time; however, recently, digital thermometers have started taking over the traditional mercury thermometers.
Digital thermometers have several advantages over conventional mercury thermometers which are shown in the following comparisons.
Mercury/alcohol thermometer
Traditional thermometers use hermetically sealed mercury or coloured alcohol in a glass tube. When placed under the tongue, in the armpit or the rectum, body heat can expand mercury or alcohol in the glass tube.
The benefits of this type of thermometers are cheap, easy to read, immersed in liquids, very low maintenance requirements and reliable.
The disadvantages include the easy breaking down of the glass tube and the risk of mercury poisoning.
Digital thermometer
A digital thermometer uses electronic heat sensors which digitally displays the reading on the one end of a small LCD. Just like the mercury/alcohol thermometer, for measuring body temperature, it is inserted under the tongue or in the armpit or within the rectum.
Digital thermometers are more beneficial as they are cheap, readable, require little maintenance and provide a precise reading. The downside is that they easily get damaged if dropped and they eventually run out of the battery that powers them.
Digital thermometer vs mercury thermometer
Digital thermometers have fast results in comparison to mercury thermometers, which are sluggish to be read. In mercury thermometer, you have to wait until mercury heats up and then gradually rise to display the temperature. However, the use of advanced technology to manufacture digital thermometers is designed to deliver instant results, which means no longer waiting for hot fluids to rise.
While providing faster readings by digital thermometers, traditional mercury thermometers are also being replaced gradually because they include different technologies that increase precision and make them a popular choice for various sectors.
In addition, some digital thermometers have thermocouple sensors on the probe which have been calibrated and calculated to ensure very high precision without having to calibrate them as mercury thermostats.
One cause of the popularity of digital thermometers such as the ThermoPro Digital thermometer is that they are also safer to use compared to a mercury thermometer.
Haseeb
Digital thermometers use much more durable metal components, without harmful chemical additives for better safety. On the other side, the most widely manufactured mercury thermometers are made of glass that is used in the food industry to gauge the temperature.
However, glass is very fragile, meaning it can easily break. Mercury is a toxic chemical that can affect the person and the surrounding areas if released, making it unsafe and also difficult to clean up.