Alcohol thermometer to give a background for reading the scale. The range of usefulness of the thermometer is set by the boiling point of the liquid used. In the case of the ethanol-filled thermometer, the upper limit for measurement is 78 °C (172.4 °F), which makes it useful for measuring daytime, nighttime and body temperatures, although not for anything much hotter than these. Ethanol-filled thermometers are used in preference to mercury for meteorological measurements of minimum temperatures and can be used down to −70 °C (-94 °F). The physical limitation of the ability of a thermometer to measure low temperature is the
Medical thermometer the body (a thermometer which senses the temperature of the eardrum without touching it is inserted into the ear canal). To eliminate the risk of patient cross-infection, disposable probe covers and single-use clinical thermometers of all types are used in clinics and hospitals. According to a 2001 research, electronic thermometers on the market significantly underestimate higher temperatures and overestimate lower temperatures. The researchers conclude that "the current generation of electronic, digital clinical thermometers, in general, may not be sufficiently accurate or reliable to replace the traditional glass/mercury thermometers" A basal thermometer is a thermometer used to take the basal (base)