calorimeter

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an instrument for measuring heat absorbed or released during a chemical reaction, phase change, or other physical process

   A bomb calorimeter measured the heat released when the fuel sample burned.

2. 2
   noun

   in particle physics, a detector that absorbs particles and measures their energy from the resulting shower or signal

   The collider's electromagnetic calorimeter measured the energies of electrons and photons.

Formed in international scientific vocabulary from Latin calor ("heat") + -meter, ultimately from Greek metron ("measure"). The name directly reflects the instrument's original purpose: measuring quantities of heat.

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