Broken thermometer

Credit: PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Caption: Broken thermometer. The bulb of the thermometer (far right) contains mercury, a toxic, heavy and liquid metal. Spillages of mercury must be cleaned up with great care, as the vapours are toxic and the liquid can drain away through cracks to settle under floors and soak into wooden benches and cause long-term problems. Mercury is used in thermometers to measure temperature changes. The volume of the mercury increases with an increase in temperature, sending the mercury rising from the reservoir in the bulb up a narrow column inside the thermometer. The graduated scale on the thermometer allows the final level of the mercury to be recorded as a temperature.

Release details: Model release not required. Property release not required.

Keywords: apparatus, chemical, chemistry, equipment, health and safety, industrial, industry, lab, laboratory, liquid, mercury, metal, physical, physics, technological, technology, thermometer

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