Question

Which help you ensure that temperature readings are accurate? Check all that apply.

shaking the thermometer before use

using the thermometer as a stirring rod

making sure that the liquid inside the thermometer is at eye level when taking the temperature

making sure that the bulb of the thermometer does not touch the bottom the beaker or the ice when taking the temperature

using the Celsius scale instead of the Fahrenheit scale when taking temperature readings

Answer 1

Correct answers:
- shaking the thermometer before use
- making sure that the liquid inside the thermometer is at eye level when taking the temperature
- making sure that the bulb of the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the beaker or the ice when taking the temperature

Brief reasons:
- Shaking (for liquid-in-glass thermometers) resets the liquid column so you can measure accurately. (Digital thermometers do not require this.)
- Reading at eye level avoids parallax error.
- The bulb must be fully in the sample but not touching the container to avoid heat conduction through the container or ice altering the reading.

Incorrect:
- Do not use the thermometer as a stirring rod (can break it and give wrong readings).
- Using Celsius vs Fahrenheit does not affect accuracy; it’s just a different scale.