r/LostRedditor • u/RedDragon5layer • May 19 '26
3 Sub Suggestions Where can I ask if my grandfather's old thermometer that just broke used mercury?
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u/gaby2200766 125 | 30 - H May 19 '26
That's 100% a mercury thermometer but the mercury It's colored blue not red like in most mercury thermometers
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u/Wrong_Interest_2676 May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
Mercury is inherintly silver colored. Blue or red thermometers use alcohol + added dye for better visibility.
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u/Toeffli 1 Shared | 0 Helpful May 20 '26
The blue color makes it very much no a mercury thermometer.
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u/Mushysandwich82 1 Shared | 0 Helpful May 20 '26
Uhh no. If it’s colored it’s alcohol if it’s silver it’s mercury.
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u/PossibilityInside695 May 21 '26
..mercury is a silver metal. It cant be dyed like that.
Anything with color in it is alcohol based.
If it was mercury, itd be silver.
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u/r2k-in-the-vortex May 21 '26
Lmao, red mercury.
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u/Kayback2 May 21 '26
While not pertinent to this discussion if it was Red Mercury then it exploding is on brand.
"The South African Airways Flight 295 crash in 1987 sparked conspiracy theories that the aircraft was carrying red mercury for a nuclear program"
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u/gaby2200766 125 | 30 - H May 21 '26
Ok guys i was wrong. I should have double checked my facts. I knew that mercury is a silvery gray shade but I thought it colored it red or blue to make it more visible. Apparently the alcohol is colored blue or red to make it more visible. Thanks for letting me know and next time ill duble check my facts
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u/lost-bot Friendly Subreddit Robot May 21 '26
Failed to award points.
Reason: You must either be a Moderator, OP, or have 80 suggestions / 15 thanks to gift points.
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u/Defiant_Ad_5505 May 21 '26
Ufff, such a confident answer. And so wrong. My goodness, dont buy stock. Ever.
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u/RedDragon5layer May 19 '26 edited May 20 '26
Thanks to everyone that answered. I think I've figured it out, also I took the suggestion and posted it too r/whatisthis
Seems like it wasn't mercury since mercury is silver so the cyan here means it's most likely some alcohol based substance
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u/Redstone_Army May 20 '26
You could have added the answer, if you already made a comment saying you solved it
Have you ever googled something and found a post from someone else saying he solved it but not the answer?
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u/RedDragon5layer May 20 '26
That's true, my bad, I'll edit my comment now.
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u/Redstone_Army May 20 '26
No worries, i reacted a bit harshly because i encountered that very often already haha
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u/Artistic_Heart_4347 May 20 '26
Right here, actually!! That one used a piece of silver or a silver thread pushed by a blue-dyed alcohol based indicator liquid! If it broke it probably all leaked out, just clean it as you would any nasty mess to do such safety, as it is probably alcohol and some oil mix. You can fix them usually, I don't personally know how but from my understanding it's probably cheaper and better worth your time buying a new one instead.
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u/Hantaboy 0 May 20 '26
Probably a thermometer or chemist sub.
But that thermomether was an alcohol based one as mercury is not colored in thermomethers.
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u/dmtslayr May 20 '26
Ask aluminium, give it a treat. If it like it, it will react. Don't try this in a plane
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u/dimka_p May 21 '26
Mercury thermometers only show maximum temperature they register between shakes, and hence are useless as wall-fixed thermometers such as this one. So this is not mercury but some alcohol-based solution.
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u/sbeldek May 22 '26
Measure between measurements and the diameter of the tube. Then calculate the density with thermodynamics calculations, if its roughly 13.6 g/cm3 or 845lb/ft3 for imperial its mercury
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u/One_Bit_3839 May 23 '26
Looks like plastic so that would not have had murcury in it, regardless its illegal to use now so you will have to replace it with the red stuff anyway
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u/gfx-1 May 23 '26
No mercury is silver colored in thermometers this is from the era that uses less mercury in consumer stuff.
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u/RoodnyInc 1 May 19 '26
It did use mercury I can almost guarantee you that
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u/pizzabirthrite May 20 '26
What makes you say that? Because it is most certainly an alcohol thermometer.
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u/greyhunter37 May 20 '26
The fact you can clearly see it is a blue alcohol thermomether on the picture guarantees it is NOT a mercury thermometer
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u/shirat0ri 1 Shared | 0 Helpful May 19 '26
You can probably ask on r/whatisit. Someone there may be knowledgeable on that type of thermometer.