by Martin de Groot & Erich Tegeler (Jan-Mar 2009)
Abstract: This is the first in a series of papers about the basics of measurement. The subject, temperature, is basic by itself, because it is so widely measured. In industry, laboratories and hospitals, many other measurements cannot be made or conclusions drawn without the measurement of temperature. In this paper the main focus is on thermometers that make contact with the item to be measured: contact thermometry. Radiation thermometry, the other thermometry subfield shall not be discussed extensively but left for discussion later in this series. Here we discuss the major contact thermometers (thermocouples and platinum resistance thermometers) and some phenomena that need attention when using contact thermometers. We start and finish the paper with a discussion of temperature and temperature scales.
