Mercury-in-glass thermometer Mercury-in-glass thermometer The mercury-in-glass or mercury thermometer was invented by physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in Amsterdam (1714). It consists of a bulb containing mercury attached to a glass tube of narrow diameter; the volume of mercury in the tube is much less than the volume in the bulb. The volume of mercury changes slightly with temperature; the small change in volume drives the narrow mercury column a relatively long way up the tube. The space above the mercury may be filled with nitrogen gas or it may be at less than atmospheric pressure, a partial vacuum. In order to calibrate
Thermometer instruments can give readings to one thousandth of a degree. However, this precision does not mean the reading is true or accurate, it only means that very small changes can be observed. A thermometer calibrated to a known fixed point is accurate (i.e. gives a true reading) at that point. Most thermometers are originally calibrated to a constant-volume gas thermometer. In between fixed calibration points, interpolation is used, usually linear. This may give significant differences between different types of thermometer at points far away from the fixed points. For example, the expansion of mercury in a glass thermometer is slightly