Question

What are the pros and cons of using an alcohol thermometer?

Answer 1

There are following pros of using alcohol as a thermometric liquid:

• It is a non-toxic substance.
• Its per degree celsius expansion is more. This helps in measuring low temperature with high accuracy.

There are following cons of using alcohol as a thermometric liquid:

• Alcohol is a colourless liquid and hence, it requires colouring.
• It sticks to the walls of the glass tube which results in low accuracy.
• It has a low boiling point and it evaporates at a higher temperature.
• Its per degree celsius expansion is not uniform at all the temperatures. Hence, it gives wrong readings at higher temperatures.