Make Your Own Temperature Scale
Students learn about the difference between temperature and thermal energy. They create thermometers using simple materials and develop their own scales for measuring temperature. They compare their thermometers to a commercial thermometer, and get a sense for why engineers need to understand the properties of thermal energy.
Students make their own temperature scales.Copyright freestockphotos.biz http://res.freestockphotos.biz/pictures/17/17709-thermometer-pv.jpg
Engineers use temperature as an indicator of how well a system is operating or if it is operating within its design limits. For example, to keep a building's indoor environment comfortable for people, mechanical engineers continually take temperature measurements of building zones, supply air, outside air, and chilled and hot water supplies. A control system monitors these temperatures and adjusts the amount of heating, cooling, and other systems in response to the measurements. In other applications, such as power plants, industrial manufacturing facilities, labs, aerospace equipment and medical equipment, temperature measurements are used as well. After the space shuttle malfunctioned during takeoff a few years ago, engineers found the cause of the problem through the use of temperature data from probes located throughout the shuttle's wing that was hit by a piece of dislodged insulation.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Explain how a thermometer works.
- Describe the physical changes that occur in a thermometer with increasing or decreasing temperature.
- Explain how engineers use thermometers in everyday applications.
- Develop a scale for measuring temperature on a thermometer they build.