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
Six's thermometer the mercury, and returning it to the horizontal. The Six's thermometer is known for separations in the mercury column, in particular after shipment, though accidental knocks have been known causes as well. Separations can usually be corrected by swinging the thermometer as is done to reset a mercury clinical thermometer; the centrifugal force forces the mercury together again. Should a marker become partly buried in the mercury, it can either be pulled up again with the magnet or exposed to an extreme temperature that leaves the marker uncovered. If a strong external magnet is used to pull up the markers