Thermometers

Thermometers are probably one of the most common medical tools found in every home, and inside common first aid kits. The human body’s temperature is basically the measurement of your ability to produce as well as get rid or expel of heat. Normally, the human body is extremely efficient in keeping its own temperature well within the normal and safe range despite of the great variations of temperatures in the external environment the human body. However, when one contracts fever or the body becomes abnormally warm, the tiny blood vessels in the skin will begin to expand or dilate to effectively carry the heat towards the skin’s surface. Slight rise and fall of body temperature may not be detectable by human touch, which is why a thermometer is required to determine if it is still within the normal range or not.

The human body temperature can be easily measured in various locations of the body, but are commonly used in the ear, mouth, rectum and armpit. While a normal fever is far from fatal, it can be a clear of other health complications such as an infection or possibly a more serious case of heatstroke, which can be life threatening.

If one would diligently trace back history, it was recorded that perhaps the earliest form of thermometer invention can be credited to Galileo. Although he is more popularly known for his discoveries on the solar system and as his revolutionary theory that the planets rotate around the sun, he also used the device, which he called the “thermoscope”.
However, the modern thermometers that we use today are far different from the ones the great Galileo used about 400 years ago. Earlier forms of thermometers mainly used water, which is often ineffective since water has the tendency to freeze, which means it’s impossible to measure temperature below the water’s freezing point. Later on, alcohol was used as an alternative, although it still freezes below the eater’s freezing point. It was in 1714 that Gabriel Fahrenheit had invented the mercury thermometer that doesn’t have any problem with freezing, the very same concept that we still use up until today.

The silver or red line in the middle of the common thermometer is used as an indicator depending on the temperature. While Americans are known to use Fahrenheit as the standard measurement for temperature, the rest of the world uses Celsius, and scientist commonly uses Kelvin as a form of measurement. With the invention of other forms of thermometers, thermometers are not just used to measure body heat, but also to measure the heat of other objects. In fact, the Kelvin Scale is used to measure even the coldest temperature there can possibly, which brought light to the fact that it should not only be limited in measuring heat but also the coldness of a certain object or environment. Needless today, this tool became quite important not just in the medical field but also in various industries that require a strict monitor of the changes in temperature. In fact, the same concept is even used in the modern kitchen, especially in the art of baking.

Having a temperature ready at hand all the time may seem a simple, yet highly important concession especially if you have young kids in the house. A great thing about this medical paraphernalia is the fact that it is a very inexpensive tool to have, which means you definitely cant have any excuses not to have it in your home. So if you want to keep close watch on your family’s health, then it’s about time you round up together not just your thermometer but also other first aid basics to ensure that you can provide immediate care when the need arises.