hypsometer

American  

[hip-som-i-ter] / hɪpˈsɒm ɪ tər /

noun

1. thermobarometer.

---

hypsometer British  

/ hɪpˈsɒmɪtə /

noun

1. an instrument for measuring altitudes by determining the boiling point of water at a given altitude

2. any instrument used to calculate the heights of trees by triangulation

---

hypsometer Scientific  

/ hĭp-sŏm′ĭ-tər /

1. An instrument used to determine land elevation by observing the atmospheric pressure as measured by the change in the boiling point of a liquid, usually water. Liquids boil at progressively lower temperatures as the atmospheric pressure decreases, and since atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude, the temperature at which the liquid boils is an indicator of the atmospheric pressure at that location and hence of the location's altitude.

---

Etymology

Origin of hypsometer

First recorded in 1860–65; hypso- + -meter

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hypsometer

Tree measurements are collected using such forestry tools as a low-tech Biltmore stick, a clinometer or, most accurate of all, a laser hypsometer.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 5, 2016

An instrument sold by dealers for the measuring of heights is known as the hypsometer.

From The Teaching of Geometry by David Eugene Smith

Water boils at sea level at a temperature of 212° F. Here it boiled at 174° F. After taking the reading we greedily drank the water which had been heated for the hypsometer.

From Inca Land Explorations in the Highlands of Peru by Hiram Bingham

To begin with, Bowers broke the only hypsometer thermometer, and so they were left with nothing to check their two aneroids.

From The Voyages of Captain Scott : Retold from the Voyage of the Discovery and Scott's Last Expedition by Charles Turley

His chief contention was that, because he had taken home with him in deserting the object of the expedition a hypsometer, I could not have measured the high altitudes claimed.

From My Attainment of the Pole by Frederick A. Cook

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---