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Published

thermometer

vr.tr.thermometer · thing-q646

Let an agent explain thermometers, relay principles, types, scales, calibration and safe use from metrology and health sources, describe the named instruments, advise safe handling of broken mercury thermometers and fever guidance for infants, and distinguish thermometers from thermostats, thermographs, pyrometers as high-temperature sensors and hygrometers.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems PHY.OBJ

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Understand What a thermometer is.

Definition

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

  1. What is a thermometer, and how does it differ from thermostats, thermographs, pyrometers and hygrometers? definition
  2. Does a baby under three months have a fever, or has a mercury thermometer broken, in which case seek medical advice or follow official clean-up guidance? boundary

Named

Named instruments.

Named

Named.

  1. What are tasimeters, candy, pet and maximum and minimum thermometers and thermohygrometers? definition
  2. Which entry fits the specific instrument? action
Science Principles.

Principles

Sensing principles.

Principles

Principles.

  1. How do liquid expansion, resistance, thermocouples and infrared sensors measure temperature? provenance
  2. Which references are standard? provenance

Scales

Temperature scales.

Scales

Scales.

  1. How do Celsius, Fahrenheit and kelvin scales relate, and what is ITS-90? measurement
  2. Which sources are cited? provenance
Use Safe use.

Medical

Taking temperatures.

Medical

Medical.

  1. What do health services advise about measuring body temperature? provenance
  2. Which entry fits fever? action

Mercury

Mercury phase-out.

Mercury

Mercury.

  1. Why are mercury thermometers being phased out, and how should spills be handled? provenance
  2. Which entry fits Minamata Convention on Mercury? action
Context History and weather.

History

History.

History

History.

  1. How did Galileo s thermoscope lead to thermometers? provenance
  2. Which entry fits thermoscope? action

Weather

Weather stations.

Weather

Weather.

  1. How are thermometers used in Stevenson screens? provenance
  2. Which entry fits Stevenson screen? action

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Physical world and living systems
Entry kind
thing
Plane
PHY
Domain
PHY.OBJ
Other names and narrower kinds
tasimeter, candy thermometer, pet thermometer, thermohygrometer, maximum thermometer, minimum thermometer, hydrogen thermometer, liquid thermometer, vapour pressure thermometer, Breguet's thermometer, Pill thermometer, room thermometer

What it is Filled

An instrument that measures temperature, historically using the expansion of liquids such as mercury or alcohol in a glass tube and today often electronic sensors such as thermistors, thermocouples and infrared detectors, in forms the registry aliases name including candy or sugar thermometers for cooking, pet thermometers, thermohygrometers that also measure humidity, maximum and minimum thermometers that record extremes, as in Six s design of 1782, and the tasimeter, an instrument devised by Thomas Edison in 1878 to detect very small temperature changes; mercury thermometers are being phased out under the Minamata Convention. High fever in young infants needs prompt medical advice.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent explain thermometers, relay principles, types, scales, calibration and safe use from metrology and health sources, describe the named instruments, advise safe handling of broken mercury thermometers and fever guidance for infants, and distinguish thermometers from thermostats, thermographs, pyrometers as high-temperature sensors and hygrometers.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • Temperature sensing
  • Many principles
  • Calibrated scales
  • Medical and scientific uses

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Break a mercury thermometer or dispose of it as ordinary waste.
  • Use a non-sterile or shared clinical thermometer between people without cleaning it.
  • Report readings from an uncalibrated or damaged thermometer as accurate.
  • Insert a thermometer into a person without consent.

Only with a human decision

  • Deciding on medical care for a person based on a temperature reading.

May

  • Measure and report temperatures with a calibrated thermometer, stating the unit.
  • Check a thermometer's calibration against a reference before critical use.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Wrong readings can delay care for fever or allow unsafe food storage.

Who is affected

  • Patients
  • Children
  • People eating stored food

Owners Filled

Steward

The person or organisation that holds it; metrology institutes maintain calibration standards.

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q2041172 - registry parent class
  • Q3743695 - registry parent class
  • Q834028 - registry parent class

related

  • measuring instrument - in registry terms
  • temperature
  • medical thermometer
  • thermostat

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.thermometer
  • Wikidata: Q646 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q646)

Direct properties required Filled

  • Fahrenheit scale: 1724 year
  • Celsius scale: 1742 year - later inverted
  • Six s maximum-minimum thermometer: 1782 year
  • Minamata Convention: 2013 year - phase-out of mercury thermometers

Recognition required Filled

  • Temperature measuring instrument
  • Tasimeter, candy thermometer, pet thermometer, thermohygrometer, maximum thermometer, minimum thermometer
  • Thermostats control temperature; thermographs record over time; pyrometers measure high temperatures remotely; hygrometers measure humidity
  • Glass tubes with liquid columns, digital probes, ear or forehead scanners and dial gauges.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • explain principles and types
  • relay scales and calibration
  • describe named instruments
  • relay mercury and fever safety

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Mercury exposure from broken thermometers
  • Inaccurate readings from poor technique
  • Delaying care for infant fever

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • International Temperature Scale of 1990
  • Minamata Convention on Mercury
  • Medical device standards for clinical thermometers

Context of use required Filled

  • Measuring temperature.
  • liquid-in-glass thermometers
  • digital and thermistor thermometers
  • infrared thermometers
  • thermocouple probes
  • maximum and minimum thermometers
  • cooking and veterinary thermometers

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q646: thermometer - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: Thermometer - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Should the tasimeter be a separate entry?
  • How should metrology and health sources be linked?
  • Should clinical thermometers be a separate entry?

Machine files

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q646/spec.json