Question

Give reason: Mercury or alcohol is the preferred liquid for thermometer

Answer 1

Why is mercury used in thermometers?
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Yashkumar Sanariya
Yashkumar Sanariya, Chemical Engineer from NIT, Surat
Answered Apr 20
Mercury is shiny liquid metal with high co-efficient of expansion. Keeping high-profile words aside, to put in simple terms,

It’s shiny. You can easily see the level of mercury inside a glass thermometer. Imagine using water or any other translucent liquid.
It’s sensitive. Heating even on a small scale causes significant expansion in it’s volume which can be made clearly visible on a marked scale.
It’s hard to boil. The boiling point of mercury is nearly 674.06 degrees Fahrenheit. So using it in college laboratory or hospitals really doesn’t convert the mercury to vapors.
It’s non-sticky. The property of mercury to not stick on glass is a main reason to use it. Unlike water, droplets of mercury never stick on the glass walls of the thermometer,