Question

Which of the following are the precautions to be taken while using a clinical thermometer?

• A. Read the thermometer keeping the level of mercury along the line of sight.
• B. Wash the thermometer with hot water.
• C. Do not hold the bulb of the thermometer while taking the reading.
• D. The mercury level should be below ${35}^{\circ }C$ before use.

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (C), (D)

The correct options are
A Read the thermometer keeping the level of mercury along the line of sight.
C Do not hold the bulb of the thermometer while taking the reading.
D The mercury level should be below ${35}^{\circ }C$ before use.

The precautions to be taken are:
1) Mercury level should be kept along the line of sight while taking the readings.
2) Do not hold the bulb of the thermometer while taking the readings because in such cases, the temperature of our hand will also effect the reading.
3) Before taking the reading we should ensure that the temperature is below ${35}^{\circ }C$ .
4) If the thermometer is washed with hot water, the reading will shoot up well above a hundred degrees.