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
Medical thermometer who is capable of holding the thermometer securely under the tongue, which generally excludes small children or people who are unconscious or overcome by coughing, weakness, or vomiting. (This is less of a problem with fast-reacting digital thermometers, but is certainly an issue with mercury thermometers, which take several minutes to stabilise their reading.) If the patient has drunk a hot or cold liquid beforehand time must be allowed for the mouth temperature to return to its normal value. The typical range of a sub-lingual thermometer for use in humans is from about 35 °C to 42 °C or 90