A Galileo Thermometer is a sealed glass tube filled with liquid, typically ethanol, with glass spheres filled with colored liquids and weights attached. As the temperature changes, the liquid expands or contracts, which allows the glass bubbles to rise and fall. The number on the metal tag of the lowest sphere is the temperature.
While the instrument bears the name of the great Italian physicist Galileo Galilei, he did not invent the thermometer. However, the physical principles he discovered some four centuries ago make this glass thermometer a reasonably accurate ambient temperature measurement compared to modern digital thermometers.
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Who invented the galileo thermometer?
Galileo thermometers are named after the Italian physicist Galileo Galilei. However, the instrument itself was created by researchers at the Accademia del Cimento of Florence sometime in the mid-1600s. One of the researchers on the team, Torricelli, worked with Galileo on research surrounding the concepts of the thermometer.
As the temperature of the liquid changes, the weighted spheres begin to move. While these thermometers are not particularly accurate, they are generally accurate enough to give an idea of your indoor temperature within a few degrees.
How to read a Galileo thermometer
Galileo thermometers are unique devices that use the principles of both buoyancy and density to measure temperature. The thermometer consists of a glass container filled with a clear liquid and several spheres with weights of different densities. The weighted spheres are free to move up and down the glass container, each labeled with a different temperature.
As the temperature of the liquid changes, the metal balls either float or sink until they reach a position where the liquid has the same density as the metal ball. The temperature is read on the medallion of the lowest sphere.
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