What do you do if you break a Galileo thermometer? The dye inside colored bulbs may stain fabric. If the thermometer breaks , clean the area with warm, soapy water.
What liquid is in a Galileo?
What is the clear liquid in a Galileo thermometer? The clear liquid in a Galileo thermometer is ethanol, a colorless volatile liquid with very little odor. Although its density is less than water, it varies depending on the temperature, even more so than water.Dec 8, 2021
Can Galileo thermometers explode?
Can Galileo thermometers explode? Danger of explosion: Product does not present an explosion hazard.Dec 14, 2021
What should you do if you spill mercury?
Sprinkle sulfur powder over the contaminated area and rub it gently all over the surface and into the cracks with a paper towel. Sulfur powder binds with mercury. Use a paper towel dampened with water followed by wiping with another damp paper towel to clean up the sulfur and mercury.
What's inside Galileo thermometer?
The liquid in a Galileo thermometer is water. Floating in the water within the tube are glass bubbles also filled with water containing simple food coloring, though sometimes alcohol might be used. The Galileo thermometer is an accurately functioning machine that is more often than not used today as decoration.
Galileo thermometer broken, never had I seen such an aweful chemical reaction
Discussion in ' General Discussion ' started by Combat squirrel, 28 Jun 2011 .
Posts: 10,692
As title, had the unfortunate mishap of dropping my Galileo thermometer as I was cleaning last night and it smashed on the corner of my table and dripped down the side of a shelf.
Location: Leafy outskirts of London
If anything like this were to happen to me I would be taking pics and videos like crazy! Poor show OP
Posts: 10,692
Besides it was genuinely awful, as I said about health concerns and trying to save my room - pics were the last thing on my mind!
Location: Swindon
That's pretty crazy. Had to look up what it was, and just looking at it I'd assume it was water or something quite harmless inside, there is no warning given about it. Should certainly have a warning if it is to be sold, a mercury thermometer would do wouldn't it?
Location: Scotland
Was it just the liquid surrounding the coloured balls that leaked out or was it the liquid inside them that leaked out ?
Location: West Coast of Scotland
Sounds awful mate - like the result of napalm/flamethrower just without the fire!
What happened to the mother of a child who had a broken thermometer?
The mother said that mercury from a broken thermometer had been spilled on the carpet in the child’s room 2 weeks before the symptoms started. The spill had not been cleaned up.
Why are thermometers declining?
Calls to Poison Control about mercury from broken thermometers are declining because of the availability of other types of thermometers. Although mercury is considered a highly toxic substance, the overall risk of toxicity from a broken mercury-containing thermometer is low when appropriate clean-up measures are taken.
How much mercury is in a thermometer?
Most oral and rectal thermometers contain about 0.5-0.6 grams of mercury. The main health problems from mercury are from the vapors. These are produced at room temperature and especially when mercury is heated. The vapors can be inhaled and are absorbed into the body.
What is the oldest thermometer?
The oldest thermometers used are mercury in glass. Newer thermometers include non-mercury liquids in glass and digital and electronic devices that use sensors to measure temperature. Thermometers that check body temperature in the ear, across the forehead, or have a digital display do not contain mercury.
What to do if a battery is swallowed?
If a battery is swallowed, contact the battery ingestion hotline at 800-498-8666. Exposure to broken glass thermometers can lead to injury from the broken glass. Studies of children in emergency rooms have noted injury to the mouth, rectum, and ear from broken thermometer glass.
Can you get poisoned by a mercury thermometer?
The amount of mercury in a mercury thermometer is not enough to cause poisoning if someone handles it with intact skin, however skin irritation could occur. Unintentionally swallowing this amount of mercury would also not be well absorbed by someone who has a healthy digestive tract.
Can a glass thermometer contain mercury?
There can be other dangers related to glass thermometers depending on the type of liquid inside them. If you have a liquid-in-glass thermometer , it is important to be able to tell if it contains mercury. A few simple steps can help. If the liquid is not silver in color, it does not contain mercury. The non-silver liquid-in-glass thermometers ...
What is the number to call if you have a broken thermometer?
If you have questions about the potential health effects after being exposed to a broken thermometer, then please call your physician or your local poison control center at 1 (800) 222-1222.
How to get mercury beads out of glass?
Alternatively, use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments (Peel the tape very slowly from the floor to keep the mercury beads stuck to the tape.) Place the paint brush or duct tape in a zip locking bag and secure.
How to get mercury out of a bag?
Alternatively, use two pieces of cardboard paper to roll the mercury beads onto the paper towel or into the bag. Place the paper towel in a zip locking bag and secure. Make sure to label the bag as directed by your local health or fire department.
How to get mercury beads out of a paper towel?
Secure the bag and label it as directed by your local health or fire department. Locate visible mercury beads. Use a squeegee or cardboard to gather mercury beads into small mercury balls.
What to use to clean mercury?
Duct tape or shaving cream, and small paint brush. Flashlight or small task light. Optional: Powdered sulfur. Do not worry if you don't have this available. The sulfur binds to the mercury and makes clean-up easier.
How to clean mercury spill?
Have everyone else leave the area; don't let anyone walk through the mercury on their way out. Make sure all pets are removed from the area. Open all windows and doors to the outside; shut all doors to other parts of the house. DO NOT allow children to help you clean up the spill.
Can you use a vacuum cleaner to clean mercury?
Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean up mercury. The vacuum will put mercury into the air and increase exposure. Never use a broom to clean up mercury. It will break the mercury into smaller droplets and spread them. Never pour mercury down a drain.
Why does Galileo's thermometer work?
The Galileo thermometer works because of the principle of buoyancy, which states that objects that are denser than their surroundings sink, and objects that are less dense than their surroundings float.
How long does it take for a Galileo thermometer to float?
The spheres in the thermometer take a few minutes to float to the correct places. Keep in mind that Galileo thermometers are not super precise. They’ll be able to tell you roughly the temperature of the room, within 4 °F (−16 °C). Their main benefit is that they're beautiful, with all those floating glass spheres.
What is a thermometer made of?
The thermometer consists of a glass tube filled with a clear liquid, in which colored glass spheres float. Each sphere has a metal medallion hanging from it. The medallions are different weights, which makes the spheres float or sink different amounts. Look closely at each metal medallion.
How to find the temperature of a thermometer?
Hang the thermometer from a hook to find out the air temperature. You can hang the thermometer inside or outside. The key is to not hold the thermometer in your hands because your hands will warm it up and give a skewed reading. The spheres in the thermometer take a few minutes to float to the correct places.
What temperature does Galileo have?
Different Galileo thermometers have different ranges of temperatures that they can report. For example, many have a range of 60 °F (16 °C) to 100 °F (38 °C) and won't tell you the temperature if it's higher or lower than those values.
What happens when a cluster of spheres floats?
Sometimes a cluster of spheres floats by the top of the tube, and a cluster sinks to the bottom, while one sphere hangs in the middle. If that’s the case, read the temperature tag on the middle sphere. This is the most common scenario. ...
Does the Galileo thermometer measure at high temperatures?
Note that the temperature is hotter than the lowest sphere if they all sink. The Galileo thermometer doesn’t measure accurately at really high temperatures. All the spheres will sink toward the bottom of the tube, and all you’ll know is that the temperature is hotter than the one on the medallion of the lowest sphere.
What is a Galileo thermometer?
A Galileo thermometer consists of a sealed glass tube filled with a clear liquid that contains small glass bulbs of varying densities. As the outside temperature changes, the liquid's density changes. This causes the different bulbs to rise or fall, which are used to determine the temperature. Each bubble is partially filled with ...
Why is the Galileo Thermometer named after the scientist?
Density: The Galileo Thermometer is named after the scientist, mainly because it is based on his formulation of the principle that the density of a liquid changes in proportion to its temperature. Gravity: Gravity plays a major role in the downward pull of all objects. This is especially important for the Galileo Thermometer to operate correctly.
How does Galileo work?
As the air temperature keeps changing, the glass globes continue to change their height in the liquid to adjust to the water's density.
What is the difference between a glass globe and a thermometer?
Each glass globe in the thermometer has a different density. Some bubbles are the same density of the water they are submerged in at a specific atmospheric temperature. The other globes all have different densities (read mass), varying from slightly to substantially lighter or heavier than the density of the water.
Does gravity play a role in the functioning of a Galileo thermometer?
Every one of you is aware and experiences gravity every single every day (sometimes in a very unpleasant way, especially when you lose your balance and fall from a considerable height). It should come as no surprise then that gravity plays a vital role in the functioning of a Galileo thermometer.
What is the Galileo thermometer?
The Galileo thermometer consists of a sealed glass tube that is filled with water and several floating bubbles. The bubbles are glass spheres filled with a colored liquid mixture. This liquid mixture may contain alcohol, or it might simply be water with food coloring.
What is the clear liquid in a Galileo thermometer?
The clear liquid in a Galileo thermometer is ethanol, a colorless volatile liquid with very little odor. Although its density is less than water, it varies depending on the temperature, even more so than water.
What is the name of the thermometer on a desk?
Based on a thermoscope invented by Galileo Galilei in the early 1600s, the thermometer on your co-worker's desk is called a Galileo thermometer. A simple, fairly accurate thermometer, today it is mostly used as decoration. The Galileo thermometer consists of a sealed glass tube that is filled with water and several floating bubbles.
How does a thermometer work?
It is the downward force of gravity that makes this thermometer work. The basic idea is that as the temperature of the air outside the thermometer changes, so does the temperature of the water surrounding the bubbles. As the temperature of the water changes, it either expands or contracts, thereby changing its density.
What is the heaviest bubble in a thermometer?
The blue bubble (60 degrees) is the heaviest (densest) bubble, and each bubble thereafter is slightly lighter, with the red bubble being the lightest. Now, let's say the temperature in the room is 70 degrees. Since the surrounding air is 70 degrees, we know the water inside the thermometer is also about 70 degrees.
How to read ambient temperature?
You can read the ambient temperature by looking at the spheres that float in the liquid. Now, read the tag that is attached to the middle bulb to get the temperature. If you don’t see a sphere in the middle, look at the lowest one to read the temperature.
How many bubbles are there in a thermometer?
Let's say there are five bubbles in the thermometer: The blue bubble (60 degrees) is the heaviest (densest) bubble, and each bubble thereafter is slightly lighter, with the red bubble being the lightest. Now, let's say the temperature in the room is 70 degrees.
