How does a thermometer measure

temperature?
By National Geographic, adapted by Newsela staff on 09.28.17
Word Count 570
Level 700L

The sun shines down as a garden thermometer shows 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on a hot summer day.
Photo from AP

A thermometer is a tool that measures temperature. It can measure the temperature of solids,
like food. It can also measure the temperature of liquids, like water, or gases, like air.

There are three main ways of talking about temperature. These are degrees Celsius,
degrees Fahrenheit and Kelvin. These are all units of measurement. In other words, they are
numbers that say at what level the temperature is.

Most scientists around the world measure temperature using Celsius. Zero degrees Celsius is
when water starts to freeze. One-hundred degrees Celsius is when water starts to boil.

The United States mostly uses Fahrenheit. This is just another way of talking about
temperature. Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

Many U.S. scientists also use Celsius or Kelvin to measure temperature. Kelvin is used to
measure very high and very low temperatures. For example, zero Kelvin is the coldest any
object can be. It is also called "absolute zero." This is when something has no heat at all.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1

Kelvin is useful for scientists who measure temperatures in outer space. Space is very, very
cold.

These are all just different ways of talking about temperature. Saying zero degrees Celsius or
32 degrees Fahrenheit is exactly the same. The important thing is to keep in mind which type
you are using.

Liquid Thermometers

The most famous kind of thermometers are liquid thermometers.

Liquids cannot keep a fixed shape, like running water. When they heat up, liquids spread out.
We can easily measure how much they spread out, which tells us how hot they are.

Metals, like mercury, can be liquids too. Mercury is used in liquid thermometers, which are
usually thin glass tubes.

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit was the man who had the idea of liquid thermometers. The liquid
mercury sits at the bottom of the glass. When the heat rises, the liquid spreads up the tube.
When the temperature falls, the liquid shrinks and goes back down the tube.

Liquid thermometers often mark both Celsius and Fahrenheit. These are shown along the
sides of the tube.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2

Electronic Thermometers

Mercury thermometers cannot measure temperatures in Kelvin.

Kelvin thermometers are usually electric. They can measure tiny changes in radiation.
Radiation is electric waves of energy that we can't see. The sun gives off a lot of radiation.

These changes are very small. They wouldn't move the mercury in a liquid thermometer.

Other Thermometers

Today, special thermometers are often used. A cryometer measures very low
temperatures and can be used in space.

Pyrometers can measure very high temperatures. Steel companies use pyrometers to
measure the temperatures of metals.

Athletes sometimes use pill thermometers. They swallow these small thermometers, which
send information about the body's temperature for hours. Pill thermometers see changes in
body heat. They send messages to a place outside the body, like a computer. The computer
then keeps track of the data.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3

Scientists at Harvard University have made a tiny thermometer. It can measure temperature
changes inside a single cell. Cells are the building blocks of our bodies. We are all made up of
cells.

The world's largest thermometer is in Las Vegas, in the United States. It is more than 100 feet
high. A person is usually about 5 to 6 feet tall.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 5