Temperature

1.1 Temperature Scales

A temperature scale needs the following:
a. Fixed points
b. Thermometric property
c. Numerical scale

1.2 Fixed points

 points where all thermometers show the same reading (at any other point the
temperatures are different because different thermometers use different
thermometric properties and they vary differently with temperature)
 they should be easily reproducible
 basically, there are three fixed points and these are: ice point, steam point and
triple point.
1.2.1 Ice point
 The temperature at which pure ice can exist in equilibrium with water at standard
atmospheric pressure.
1.2.2 Steam point
 The temperature at which steam and pure boiling are in equilibrium at standard
atmospheric pressure.
1.2.3 Triple point
 The temperature at which solid, liquid and vapour phases of a particular substance
exist in equilibrium at standard atmospheric pressure.

1.3 Thermometric property

 A thermometric property is a physical quantity that varies monotonically with
temperature.
 It is not necessary that the value of the physical quantity changes linearly with
temperature.

1.3.1 Features of a good thermometric property

 must either increase or decrease only with increase in temperature.
 a small change in temperature must produce a large change in the value of the
property (high sensitivity)
 it must be reproducible
 must be suitable over temperature range being measured
 should be able to be calibrated easily hence property should change uniformly with
temperature

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 Examples of thermometric properties and the type of thermometer in which they
are used
Thermometric property Thermometer
Length of liquid in capillary tube Liquid-in-glass eg mercury
Resistance Platinum-resistance thermometer
Pressure of a fixed mass of gas Constant-volume gas
Potential difference/ emf Thermocouple

1.4 Numerical scale

 the temperature interval between the ice point and the steam point is known as the
fundamental interval.
 in the centigrade scale the fundamental temperature interval is divided into 100
equal divisions.
 there are two scales of temperature and theses are:
i. Empirical scale of temperature
ii. Thermodynamic scale of temperature.

1.4.1 Empirical scale of temperature.

 it is based on experimental results using a thermometric property

 it has 2 fixed points (ice point and steam point).

 If the values of the thermometric property X are 𝑋0 and 𝑋100 at the ice- and steam-
points respectively, and if the property has the value 𝑋𝜃 at an unknown temperature
θ, then:

𝜽 𝑿𝜽 −𝑿𝟎
=𝑿
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎𝟎 −𝑿𝟎

Example 1
The lengths of a mercury column in a liquid-in-glass thermometer at the lower
and upper fixed points are 10.0 cm and 55. 0 cm respectively.
Determine the length of the column at a temperature of 348 K.
Solution
𝜃 𝑙𝜃 −𝑙0
=𝑙
100 100 −𝑙0

75 𝑙75 −10
=
100 55−10

𝒍𝟕𝟓 =43.75cm

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1.4.2 Thermodynamic scale of temperature

 It is based on the properties of an ideal gas like the variation of pV with

temperature.
 It does not depend on any physical property
 Based on idea that average kinetic energy of particles of a substance increase with
temperature and the average kinetic energy is same for all substances at a particular
temperature.
𝑷𝑻
𝑻= 𝑿 𝟐𝟕𝟑. 𝟏𝟔
𝑷𝒕𝒓
Where 𝑃𝑇 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑇
And 𝑃𝑡𝑟 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
 It has 1 fixed point (0K)
 On the Thermodynamic (Kelvin) scale the lower fixed point is Zero (0K). It is
called the Absolute zero of temperature.
 Absolute zero: temperature at which a system has minimum internal energy (not
zero) – impossible to remove any more energy
T (K) = 𝜽(𝟎 𝑪) + 𝟐𝟕𝟑. 𝟏𝟔

1.5 Types of thermometers

1.5.1 Liquid-in-glass

 It is calibrated by marking the length of mercury column when the thermometer is

measuring the 2 fixed points (0⁰C and 100⁰C)
 The interval is divided into 100 equal divisions
 The tube/glass bulb is graduated in ⁰C and is shaped so as to magnify the thread
and so make it clearly visible.
Advantages
i. simple to use
ii. direct reading
iii. compact
iv. cheap

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 Disadvantages
i. Limited range ( -20⁰C to +350⁰C for mercury and about -100⁰C to +50⁰C for
ethanol).
ii. Fragile.
iii. Relatively high specific heat capacity (compared with thermocouple)-
relatively.
iv. slow response which means it is not suitable for rapidly changing temperatures.

Sources of error when using the liquid-in-glass

i. Parallax error when reading.

ii. Non-uniformity of the capillary bore.
iii. Expansion and or contraction of glass bulb and stem.
Uses
i. Best suitable for measuring fairly steady temperatures (eg weather recording,
clinical temperatures, and laboratory use where the temperatures are steady or
changing slowly.

1.5.2 Platinum resistance thermometer

 It makes use of the fact that the electrical resistance of a pure metal increases
with temperature.

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  In use the thermometer forms one arm of a Wheatstone bridge.
 It uses platinum because of its: high temperature coefficient of resistance (small
changes in temperature cause a significant change in resistance; resistance to
corrosion; and high melting point.
 The platinum coil is inside a silica/porcelain tube. The silica tube protects the
coil from corrosion.
 The insulating former/mica strip holds the platinum coil in position.
Advantages
i. very accurate (because it uses the null method/Wheatstone bridge to measure
resistance, ie resistance is measured when no current is flowing).
ii. sensitive to small temperature changes.
iii. wide range (about -200⁰C to 1200⁰C).
Disadvantages
i. requires time to get to thermal equilibrium because of its specific heat capacity
therefore, unsuitable for rapidly changing temperatures.
ii. system is bulky
iii. takes time to measure resistance
Sources of error when using the platinum resistance thermometer
i. changes in the resistance of the thermometer leads due to temperature changes.
ii. this is compensated by the addition of dummy leads connected to one arm of the
Wheatstone bridge
iii. the change of resistance suffered by the ‘live’ leads and the dummy leads should
be equal and cancel out.
Uses
i. Best used to measure small, steady temperature differences

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1.5.3 Constant-volume gas

 the bulb (and hence the air it contains) is placed in a fluid whose temperature is being
measured.
 an increase in temperature causes the pressure of the gas to increase and push the
mercury down in tube X and up in tube Y.
 the height of tube the tube Y is adjusted to bring the mercury level in X to its original
position at the reference mark A (volume of the gas in the bulb has been restored to
its original value).
 the gas pressure is, therefore, equal to atmospheric pressure plus pressure due to the
difference in height (h) of the mercury I tubes X and Y.
Advantages
i. extremely accurate
ii. very wide temperature range (-250⁰C to +1500⁰C)
iii. very sensitive
Disadvantages
i. bulky
ii. not direct reading (temperature must be calculated)
iii. large specific heat capacity therefore not good for rapidly changing temperatures

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 Sources of error
i. the temperature of the gas in the capillary tubing is different to that in the bulb
ii. expansion of the bulb means that the volume of the gas is not constant
iii. air is not an ideal gas
iv. parallax error in reading liquid levels on the scale.
Uses
i. used as a standard to calibrate other thermometers

1.5.4 Thermocouple

 One of the junctions is used as the temperature probe, and the other is kept at a
known temperature say 0⁰C so as to act as a reference junction.
 The reading on the millivoltmeter depends on the temperature difference between
the 2 junctions.

Advantages
i. wide temperature range (about -150 ⁰C to 1150⁰C)
ii. quite accurate
iii. robust
iv. can measure temperature of small objects
v. has a small specific heat capacity and therefore can measure rapidly changing
temperatures

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Disadavantages
i. Sensitive electrical equipment has to be used to ensure accurate measurements.(it
is less accurate)
Uses
i. Mainly used for temperature measurement at points and to follow rapidly
changing temperatures in datalogging.

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