I just got a hotplate. The temperature dial on it is on a scale of 1-10. I understand the max it heats to is around 475F. What type of thermometer is best for determining the temperature of a liquid being heated? What type of thermometer would be best for determining the temperature of a solid being heated and how exactly would you do this? Thanks in advance for any info.

get yourself an IR therm...

awesome! thanks for the helpful replies jorkest and mombreast.

why not?

as long as the metal is not reflective, it should give a good reading.
mine reads up to 986F, that's 530C. my hotplate maxes out at 450C

it's an issue of emissivity.
the IR therm measures the emission of black body radiation from a surface, and different materials have different values.

it will be different for, say, a reflective aluminum surface vs. a ceramic surface, which most hot plate surfaces are.
the latter isn't reflective.

IR therms have saved my hands from burns many times...its also very nice to get a quick reading of AROUND what the temperature is...just use the IR therm alll over the place and you get an idea of how hot your experiment is