Answer
A hydrometer is an instrument used for determining the specific gravity (or the density) of liquids.
Hydrometers come in a variety of themes – the most simple consisting of a long glass tube into which is sealed a specific mass of a weight, and a strip of paper that is a graduated metric (looks like a ruler).
The device is dropped into a liquid, usually water in this case, and the device will partially float, with the weighted end under water, and the rest of the device above the water line. At the point of the water line, one can see the strip of paper, and read from the paper, the metric. The metric will usually provide the specific gravity of the water, meaning, it will describe the weight of dissolved materials in the water.
See the Web Links to the left for more information (and a picture) of a hydrometer.
First answer by Caoimhin P Connell. Last edit by JEK. Contributor trust: 1779 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 14 [recommend question]
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