ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Timeline of temperature and pressure measurement technology

Okay kiddo, let me explain to you the timeline of temperature and pressure measurement technology.

In the olden days, people used to measure temperature with their bare hands. They would put their hand over a hot surface or in a cold area and guess what the temperature was based on how it felt. But as science progressed, people started to make special tools to measure temperature more accurately.

One of the first things that people used to measure temperature was a mercury thermometer. This is a small tube filled with mercury that expands or contracts based on the temperature around it. By looking at where the mercury level was, people could tell how hot or cold something was.

But then, people started to work with really high or really low temperatures that the mercury thermometer couldn't handle. That's when they started using a thermocouple. This is a tool made of two different metals that are attached at each end. When heat is applied to the junction between the metals, a small electric current is produced that corresponds to the temperature.

Now, let's talk about pressure measurement. In the beginning, people didn't know much about pressure, but they did know that air (and all gases) had it. They used things like barometers to measure atmospheric pressure. This is a long tube filled with liquid like mercury or water. When the atmospheric pressure changes, the weight of the air pushes down on the liquid and it moves up or down in the tube.

As people started to work with more precise measurements of pressure, they developed special tools that could handle more pressure. For example, a manometer is a tool that measures the pressure difference between two different points. This is useful when working with things like pipes or closed systems where you need to know the pressure at different points.

Nowadays, we have really advanced tools to measure both temperature and pressure. We have electronic thermometers that can give us a reading in just a few seconds, and special gauges that can measure up to millions of pounds per square inch of pressure. It's really amazing how technology has advanced and helped us understand our world better!