Describe a clinical thermometer. How does it differ from the thermometer used in a laboratory?
A clinical thermometer has a narrow stem and a long bulb filled with mercury (or alcohol). There is a small constriction in the stem above the bulb. When the bulb of the thermometer is held in the armpit or the mouth of a patient, the mercury (or alcohol) in the bulb rises in the stem.
When it is taken out of the patient’s body, the small constriction does not allow the mercury (or alcohol) from the stem to retreat into the bulb. Thus, this arrangement enables us to read the temperature of the patient’s body at ease after the removal of the thermometer from his body.
The clinical thermometer is graduated from 35 °C to 42 °C (or from 95 °F to 108 °F). At 37 °C (98.6 °F), there is a red arrow mark which indicates the temperature of a healthy person.
The thermometer used in a laboratory has wider range and does not have constriction like a clinical thermometer.
A clinical thermometer has a narrow stem and a long bulb filled with mercury (or alcohol). There is a small constriction in the stem above the bulb. When the bulb of the thermometer is held in the armpit or the mouth of a patient, the mercury (or alcohol) in the bulb rises in the stem.
When it is taken out of the patient’s body, the small constriction does not allow the mercury (or alcohol) from the stem to retreat into the bulb. Thus, this arrangement enables us to read the temperature of the patient’s body at ease after the removal of the thermometer from his body.
The clinical thermometer is graduated from 35 °C to 42 °C (or from 95 °F to 108 °F). At 37 °C (98.6 °F), there is a red arrow mark which indicates the temperature of a healthy person.
The thermometer used in a laboratory has wider range and does not have constriction like a clinical thermometer.
