Help please mid brew hydrom. problem?

[NEPABREWER]

Hello someone please chime in - I wanted to test my brew and play with my new hydrometer for the first time and I must admit I am quite unsure how to use it.
It appears that the liquid inside is wetting the paper on which the scale is written.
What are those balls in there and how the hell does this thing work? Is it broken?
I am

 

[RichBrewer]

Sounds like it must be cracked or something. The scale inside the hydrometer must remain dry. If liquid gets inside the hydrometer it will no longer be accurate.

 

[NEPABREWER]

I think I've got it figured out - are you supposed to float it in a tube and read it at the water or wort level?

 

[Lost]

I think I've got it figured out - are you supposed to float it in a tube and read it at the water or wort level?

I think so. Just to be clear though, there should be no liquid INSIDE the actual hydrometer itself. The balls serve as weights that will make the hydrometer float at the 1.000 mark in (usually) 60F water. Thus, water at 60F has a specific gravity/thickness/density of 1 - this is the default number. With wort the sugars act as a thickening agent and so checking the gravity by floating the hydrometer in a tube containing the liquid will tell you how much thicker than water your wort is and thus how much sugar you have in it. Because temperature will affect the readings be sure that you adjust the readings accordingly if the liquid being tested is above or below the default temp. (usually 60F).

By checking the gravity before and after fermentation you can see how much sugar (thicker than water) has been replaced by alcohol (thinner than water)... this is how we calculate ABV.

edit: and be careful with it, you'd be amazed at how easily the things break.