Berrilium
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Thermometer possible break
I was doing a synthesis today and I was moving my dropping funnel to drop into the solution and my thermometer fell off the desk and landed on the
floor.
It didn't have any visible cracks or leaks. There was a small pocket of air in the top. To test it I took my temperature and it read 37 which is good.
The air pocket is gone. Could it be damaged.
I would rather buy a new one than have faulty equipment.
This seemed like the best Board to post it under.
Thank you
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Hexavalent
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-What is your floor made of?
-Was it an alcohol or mercury thermometer?
IMO I would rather buy a new one than risk, for example, having it potentially shatter if it goes to a high temperature.
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
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GreenD
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if there is no air pocket and no visible damage...?
What the hell are we here for?
ʃ Ψ*Ψ
Keepin' it real.
Check out my new collaborated site: MNMLimpact.com
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Hexavalent
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Glassware that appears undamaged after an accident can still break unexpectedly in the future, and there could now possibly be virtually invisible
tiny chips on the surface or imperfections on the inside where stress points could possibly form.
Thermometers, unless they are really good quality, are usually inexpensive . . .so if I were you I'd get another one anyway.
[Edited on 26-4-2012 by Hexavalent]
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
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Berrilium
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That's the main thing, its not an arc furnace worth thousands. So if I should then I don't mind. It is Red spirit filled. Also, would sending it below
-10, which is it's limit (in terms of callibration) damage it? I am more worried about accuracy, not breaking in future. It is -10 to 60C
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Amy Winehouse
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| Quote: | if there is no air pocket and no visible damage...?
What the hell are we here for? |
| Quote: | | There was a small pocket of air in the top. |
-OP
I had that happen to me, where i dropped it a good 500cm and there was a small air pocket in the top. I boiled deionized water and found that the top
of the reading, above the air bubble was locked on dead to 100C, so just make sure to observe the reading of the small mark above the air pocket. Or
better yet, do a BP test yourself, all thermometers are different. Also, the air bubble went away in less than a week.
"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken"
-Colonel Sanders
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Berrilium
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So if it isn't leaking will it still be accurate?
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Amy Winehouse
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Well, that's what I mean, it may not be *accurate* but it will relatively *constant*, so for example see what it shows when you distill deionized
water, it will give you an idea of how to calibrate it, if it shows 100 C at the peak then read it from the peak, if it shows 100 C at the peak before
the air bubble gap, read it at that gap.
"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken"
-Colonel Sanders
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woelen
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I think that you still can use it. Try putting it in a beaker, filled with ice water and see whether it reads 0 C. Also try mixing 300 ml of boiling
water with 200 ml of ice water and read out the value. It should read close to 60 C (probably slightly below, due to loss of heat, especially if you
wait a little too long). If these tests are OK and the thermometer survives, then you may assume that it still is good.
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Dr.Bob
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If you are concerned that the thermometer might be weak, just move it from ice cold water to boiling water a few times. If that does not bother it,
then it should be fine for other uses. I have not seen issues with glass that was dropped but did not have a crack, deep scratch, or other flaw
visible, in my experience.
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woelen
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He should not put it in boiling water, because its range is from -10 C to +60 C. Hence my suggestion to use a 3 : 2 mix of boiling water and ice water
to get close to 60 C.
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Dr.Bob
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Sorry, missed that point, I don't think I have ever seen a thermometer that did not go above 100C. And yes, it would be bad to heat above the high
end.
But cooling below the low end will not hurt, that is how I fix Hg thermometers all of the time, when someone has shaken the Hg and gotten a bubble in
it. If you get a bubble in the HG, just cool it until the Hg is all in the bulb (dry ice usually) and then keep it upright and let it warm slowly,
and the Hg will form a continuous line in the capillary.
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