...and how is that done?
2007-04-13 05:42:10 · 9 answers · asked by Aubie 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Red liquid thermometers use alcohol dyed red, not mercury. Mercury thermometers will always have "silver" colored mercuy in them.
Any red dye that dissolves in alcohol will work in those types of thermometers.
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2007-04-13 05:47:48 · answer #1 · answered by tlbs101 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I'd still use it as long as I'm confident that I could keep it from getting broken. If it's stored so that only adults could get at them, and you're careful when you're handling it, it's hard to argue against continuing to use it. The old mercury thermometers are accurate, and perfectly safe as long as they don't get broken. On the other hand, once they are broken, loose mercury is nasty stuff. If you have small kids visiting, though, it may be best to ditch the thermometers. There's a risk they'll do something to break the thermometer. Unfortunately, free liquid mercury is unthreatening, pretty to look at, fascinating to play with, and seriously poisonous over time, and kids if unsupervised will likely do things like play with it or worse eat it thus drastically increasing their exposure.
2016-05-19 16:52:32 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thermometers which have a red liquid do not have mercury in them, mercury thermometers have a metallic looking liquid. If the thermometer has a red liquid indicator, I think it's alcohol dyed with normal food die.
2007-04-13 05:49:02 · answer #3 · answered by Jonny Wilko 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The red liquid in those thermometers is NOT mercury -- it is an alcohol with red dye dissolved in it.
2007-04-13 06:03:51 · answer #4 · answered by Dave_Stark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The "red" thermometers are not filled with mercury. The old "silver" ones are. The newer ones are filled with an organic alcohol.
2007-04-13 05:47:04 · answer #5 · answered by jedi_six 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The alcohol used in thermometers is naturally without
color (non colored) so some colorant (blue or red) is
added to help the vision of the separation meniscus.
The dye should be soluble in the alcohol.
2007-04-13 05:52:25 · answer #6 · answered by indiavision 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If it's red, it isn't mercury. It's alcohol with a red dye added just as you could add it to water.
2007-04-13 05:46:06 · answer #7 · answered by charmedchiclet 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
thats not mercury!!!! never heard of red mercury anyway....thats an alcohol thermometer!
2007-04-13 05:46:03 · answer #8 · answered by sim_luva 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's the dyed alcohol, not mercury.
2007-04-13 05:51:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋