A thermometer is used for the range of 200 to 400 degree F a

A thermometer is used for the range of 200 to 400 degree F, and it is stated that its accuracy is one-quarter of 1 percent. What does this mean in terms of temperature?

Solution

While mercury thermometers are relatively inexpensive per unit in terms of purchase price and maintenance, other factors need to be considered. All patients should have their own mercury thermometer, which must be comprehensively sterilised when they are discharged suggests that after eight months of usage, one-quarter of all mercury thermometers begin to lose their accuracy.

Overall thermometers have been found to display temperatures of between 1.02°C below and 0.91°C above those detected by other recording devices. This has led some authors to suggest that thermometers should not be used to record body temperature. While this difference in temperature may affect the clinical management of patients, a difference of 1.7°C has also been found between recording the temperature at different sites in the oral cavity . A number of researchers have concluded that thermometers can accurately record body temperature, and have found no statistically significant difference when comparing the various temperature recording devices.