Thermocouple

thermocouple, also called thermal junction, thermoelectric thermometer, or thermel, a temperature-measuring device consisting of two wires of different metals joined at each end. One junction is placed where the temperature is to be measured, and the other is kept at a constant lower temperature. A measuring instrument is connected in the circuit. The temperature difference causes the development of an electromotive force (known as the Seebeck effect) that is approximately proportional to the difference between the temperatures of the two junctions. Temperature can be read from standard tables, or the measuring instrument can be calibrated to read temperature directly.

Any two different metals or metal alloys exhibit the thermoelectric effect, but only a few are used as thermocouples—e.g., antimony and bismuth, copper and iron, or copper and constantan (a copper-nickel alloy). Usually platinum, either with rhodium or a platinum-rhodium alloy, is used in high-temperature thermocouples. Thermocouple types are named (e.g., type E [nickel, chromium, and constantan], J [iron and constantan], N [two nickel-silicon alloys, one of which contains chromium and magnesium], or B [a platinum-rhodium alloy]) according to the metals used to make the wires. The most common type is K (nickel-aluminum and nickel-chromium wires) because of its wide temperature range (from about −200 to 1,260 °C [−300 to 2,300 °F]) and low cost.

A thermopile is a number of thermocouples connected in series. Its results are comparable to the average of several temperature readings. A series circuit also gives greater sensitivity, as well as greater power output, which can be used to operate a device such as a safety valve in a gas stove without the use of external power.