Mercurial thermometer: As the name suggests, it is indeed operated by a metal that melts in room temperature called, mercury. This was used before any advanced tech gadgets were invented for recording temperature. This thermometer works by the metal liquid contracting depending on how hot or cold it is; the metal in the vial goes up when hot and the other way when cold. When compared to the infrared scanner, it is evident that they are both used for recording temperature but the difference is this one is much older and rare because of the mercury content which could be dangerous when ingested or got in contact with
Infrared scanner: The infrared scanner is just like the mercury thermometer but more advanced. This thermometer records the temperature of a person or a thing by showing a thermal map that locates and tells you the hot and cold parts of a thing/person. But when compared to the one earlier, this is more complex and detailed because it doesn't just show you how hot or cold it is but it also tells you what parts exactly are hot and cold (tho, it depends... if it's a thermal gun then no, it doesn't really tell you what and where is something, just the temperature.)
Importance:
When given the context, the first thing that will come to our minds is this thing could be helpful in these situations (COVID-19). It's because these things such as thermometers could save lives by telling who's probably sick or ill. By checking someone's temperature, we could tell if they're sick or not and this could even save somebody's life from potential disease.
Answers & Comments
Answer:
Differences:
Mercurial thermometer: As the name suggests, it is indeed operated by a metal that melts in room temperature called, mercury. This was used before any advanced tech gadgets were invented for recording temperature. This thermometer works by the metal liquid contracting depending on how hot or cold it is; the metal in the vial goes up when hot and the other way when cold. When compared to the infrared scanner, it is evident that they are both used for recording temperature but the difference is this one is much older and rare because of the mercury content which could be dangerous when ingested or got in contact with
Infrared scanner: The infrared scanner is just like the mercury thermometer but more advanced. This thermometer records the temperature of a person or a thing by showing a thermal map that locates and tells you the hot and cold parts of a thing/person. But when compared to the one earlier, this is more complex and detailed because it doesn't just show you how hot or cold it is but it also tells you what parts exactly are hot and cold (tho, it depends... if it's a thermal gun then no, it doesn't really tell you what and where is something, just the temperature.)
Importance:
When given the context, the first thing that will come to our minds is this thing could be helpful in these situations (COVID-19). It's because these things such as thermometers could save lives by telling who's probably sick or ill. By checking someone's temperature, we could tell if they're sick or not and this could even save somebody's life from potential disease.
Explanation:
Hope this helps!