Question

The length of mercury thread in a thermometer rises by 12 cm when it is transferred from water at 273 K to water at 373 K. If the thermometer is to be calibrated in$^\circ C$, find the length of one degree on the thermometer.

Answer 1

Hint To answer this question we have to consider the rise in the temperature and the change in the temperature. Once we write down them we have to find the change in the temperature for one degree, from the respective formula. This will give us the answer to the required question.

Complete step by step answer
From the question we can say that;
Rise in the temperature is = 12 cm
Now we have to consider the change in the temperature, which is given as ${100^\circ }C$.
Now we have to find the change in the temperature in $1^\circ$. So the formula goes as:
$\dfrac{{12cm}}{{{{100}^\circ }C}}$
This will give as 0.12 m / $^\circ C$.

Hence we can say that the length of one degree on the thermometer is 0.12 m.

Note In this question we have come across two types of temperature scale. The Kelvin scale and the Celsius scale should be explained for better understanding. A scale with the temperature that begins from absolute zero is described as Kelvin scale. Each of the degrees of the Kelvin scale, has the same value as that of the one degree on the Celsius scale.
The Celsius scale is the scale which is based on the freezing point of water which is ${0^\circ }C$ and the boiling point of water that is ${100^\circ }C$.
The Kelvin scale is more preferable to work for scientific methods, though we can also use the Celsius scale. Due to the difference between the freezing point of water as well as the boiling point, on both the scales, the size of a single degree on both the scales are almost the same.