Description of Galileo thermometers and its working

Galileo thermometers are very useful invention of a famous scientist named Galilei Galileo. The history of these thermometers is very old as they depict from their age of existence. Galileo thermometers were invented in the year fifteen ninety and modified in fifteen ninety three. The principle of the modern Galileo thermometers is pretty different from the principle of the first Galileo thermometer. In the historic age that is the period of sixteenth century there was no device to predict the air temperature until this kind physician named Galilei Galileo invented his very famous creation Galileo thermometer which is used in the twenty first century also. These thermometers are still carrying his name in order to respect the great scientist who invented them.

Galileo thermometers consist of sealed vertical glass tubes. These tubes contain a transparent liquid, which is usually water. The inside of the tube is filled with several colorful and bright adjusted glass bubbles. These colorful bubbles or balls float at various levels in the tube. There are few bubbles which tend to float at the top and a few sitting on the bottom. The bubble near top sinking a little, or the bubble near the bottom starting to float, or perhaps the average of those two, indicates the temperature. The bright colors of the floating bubbles are attractive and not related to the functioning of the thermometer. These bubbles are tagged with numerical digits which depicts the air temperature. The glass bubbles usually contain a liquid that is typically some combination of water, alcohol, and coloring. The temperature is assumed to be hot if the balls settle down at the bottom and the temperature is cool if the balls float in the top.

Accuracy of Air Temperature Through Galileo Thermometers

The two major points which this blog is going to highlight are “What is a Galileo thermometer?” and “How to read a Galileo thermometer?”.

As we all know that thermometer is a device which is use to check the temperature precision. And temperature does not always mean that it has to be body temperature. So the question arises what is a Galileo thermometer? In the past when the sun use to hoist up high, no assumptions could be made about the heat and temperature until Galileo Galileo, the very famous physicist invented this thermometer. And so the thermometer still bears his name. Galileo thermometers were invented to measure the air temperature. They are quite different from the other accustomed thermometers. That’s why their shapes and designs are distinct and unique. They are made up of big sealed glass tube (cylinder) with air bubbles blown upwards to the surface of the liquid filled within a glass. They are a bit hard to use. They should be kept away from the reach of moisture, sunlight, heat and air conditioner vents. And the glass cylinder should be wiped off with cloth frequently. The glass bulbs fitted inside the tube should be equally distributed in the top and the bottom.
Now how to read the Galileo thermometers?

When there is a fluctuation in degrees of temperature, the movement of the bubbles of the device is disturbed. Means the bubbles with lower density rises above and the bubbles which are of higher density gets drowned. The reading of the temperature is done with attaching a tag to the lowest floating ball of the thermometer, which indicates the current temperature. The tags on the balls actually define the weights of the balls. When the balls have settled underneath that means the tube is hot and when the balls are at the surface of the tube that means the tube is too cold. Glass Galileo thermometers are more accurate though plastic Galileo thermometers are also available.