Platinum resistance thermometer 2026-10-14
A resistance thermometer using platinum as its sensing material. It provides the temperature readout in the saturation-pressure equilibrium measurement.
Transduction turns electrical resistance into a temperature indication. A uniform wire has , with electrical resistivity , length , and cross-sectional area . Stronger atomic vibrations at higher temperature scatter Electrons more, increasing platinum's electrical resistivity; impurities and crystallographic defects also contribute.[ref]
Guide on Secondary Thermometry: Industrial Platinum Resistance Thermometers by Jonathan Pearce and others. Guide on Secondary Thermometry: Industrial Platinum Resistance Thermometers, §2.1, printed pp. 6–7: resistivity, electron scattering, and impurities
A small known electric current and measured electric potential difference give through Ohm's law; a resistance bridge can instead compare the element with a reference resistor. Inverting the calibrated response then gives the sensing element's temperature. This makes electrical readout convenient, but the platinum resistance thermometer lead resistance error, resistance thermometer self-heating, and resistance thermometer immersion test explain why a stable display alone is insufficient. The gas thermometer supplies a contrasting route through an equation of state; the saturation-pressure equilibrium measurement shows why a trustworthy independent temperature readout matters.
Resistance thermometer 2026-10-14
A thermometer that infers temperature from a calibrated electrical resistance. Measuring current can heat its sensing element; extrapolation toward zero current controls that bias in the saturation-pressure equilibrium measurement.
Resistance thermometer self-heating 2026-10-14
Measuring electric current creates Joule heating, raising the sensing temperature. At fixed bath temperature, compare settled readings at and and extrapolate the approximately linear dependence toward zero current.[ref]
Guide on Secondary Thermometry: Industrial Platinum Resistance Thermometers by Jonathan Pearce and others. §4.1, printed pp. 24–26, equation (4.1.1): self-heating, two-current extrapolation, and medium dependence
Under the local model ,For synthetic readings at and at , the extrapolated value is . The lower-current excess corresponds to in the Pt100 local linear model. At , dissipates ; power alone does not specify a temperature rise without a thermal coupling model. These stipulated values are not measurements.
Repeat the comparison after settling and test the approximation if necessary. Changing from liquid to air changes heat transfer; a self-heating correction need not transfer unchanged. The saturation-pressure equilibrium measurement provides an existing example of controlling this disturbance in resistance thermometry.