Meaning & use
thermocouple
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabletechnicalspecialist
A temperature sensor made of two different metal wires joined at one point, which produces a small voltage when heated.
Grammar: Countable: a thermocouple, several thermocouples.
Patterns
- a thermocouple measures something
- connect a thermocouple to something
- a thermocouple probe/wire
The furnace has a thermocouple that cuts the gas off if the flame goes out.
Engineers placed a thermocouple inside the engine to record the exhaust temperature.
A thermocouple works because the junction of two metals generates a tiny voltage when it is warm.
Word forms
| plural | thermocouples |
|---|
Common combinations
- thermocouple wire
- Use thermocouple wire that matches the metal type, or the reading will be wrong.
- thermocouple probe
- The thermocouple probe was pushed into the center of the meat.
- install a thermocouple
- A technician came to install a new thermocouple in the boiler.
- thermocouple junction
- The thermocouple junction must touch the surface you want to measure.
- type K thermocouple
- A type K thermocouple is common in industrial ovens.
Synonyms and how they differ
- temperature sensor
- A general term covering thermocouples, thermistors and other devices.
- thermistor
- Another temperature sensor, but it changes resistance rather than producing a voltage.
- thermometer
- A complete instrument for reading temperature; a thermocouple is the sensing part inside many of them.
Word family
- thermoelectric adjective
- Describing the direct conversion of heat differences into electricity.
- thermocouple gauge noun
- A vacuum gauge that uses a thermocouple to sense pressure.
Commonly confused: thermocouple or thermostat? thermocouple or thermometer?
thermocouple vs thermostat
A thermostat controls temperature by switching heating on and off; a thermocouple only senses temperature.
thermocouple vs thermometer
A thermometer displays a temperature reading; a thermocouple is the sensor element that may feed it.
Practice
The gas boiler kept going out, so the engineer replaced the ______ that senses whether the pilot flame is lit.
Choose one answer.
A thermocouple senses the flame's heat and generates the small voltage that keeps the gas valve open. A thermostat controls room temperature, a thermometer only displays temperature, and a thermos is a flask.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “thermocouple”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.