The 2022 warm period

 

It is very rare for the Galileo thermometer to shift in our house. I'd say that the temperature range 0f 18 to 26 degrees Celsius is too high - 14 to 22 would capture most eventualities. This week warm weather has finally reached Cumbria and we've reached the dizzy heights of 22 degrees Celsius. In this thermometer, the clear liquid in the column reaches thermal equilibrium with the room. This probably takes a long time through the glass. Today the liquid's internal energy increases as the particles gain more kinetic energy. The liquid expands and becomes less dense. The glass balls are sealed so their mass and volume are fixed, and hence their density. Things float if they are less dense than the liquid in which they find themselves. As the liquid becomes less dense around them, they sink.