Analysis

Linear Thermal Expansion would be the focus of the experiment but some
theories and concepts should be taken into account. Kinetic energy keeps the
particles of a substance at a distance/and or moving around. It is dependent on the
temperature of the substance. Temperature is a monotonic function of the average
molecular kinetic energy of a substance. When a substance is heated, the kinetic
energy of its molecules increases. Thus, the molecules begin vibrating or moving
more and usually maintain a greater average separation. The three phases of matter
have different levels of reaction when heat is presented to them. Solids vibrate
faster when heated. They also expands when heated, but to a lesser extent than
liquids and gases. Liquids, when heated, slightly expand and moves faster than
solids. Materials which contract with increasing temperature are unusual; this
effect is limited in size, and only occurs within limited temperature ranges . The
relative expansion, also called strain, divided by the change in temperature is
called the material's coefficient of thermal expansion and generally varies with
temperature.

The idea of thermal expansion is that a material can change in

shape/area/volume in response to a change in temperature. Whenever there is an
increase in temperature, a solid will expand, on the other hand, if cooled, it will
contract or shrink. All materials, solid, liquid or gas experience a change in its
dimension whenever there is a change in its temperature. With the exception of
water, which expands anomalously at a temperature between 0 and 4 degrees
Celsius, materials in general expand when temperature increased and contract
when the temperature decreases. It should be taken into account that the amount of
expansion depends on the material and the original size of the body.
 Thermal expansion could be observed in our daily lives. The expansion of
hot air is the most visible example. When air is heated, it expands and becomes
less dense than the surrounding air, which then exerts an (upward) force on the hot
air and makes steam and smoke rise, hot air balloons float, and so forth. The same
behavior happens in all liquids and gases, driving natural heat transfer upward in
homes, oceans, and weather systems. Solids also undergo thermal expansion.
Railroad tracks and bridges, for example, have expansion joints to allow them to
freely expand and contract with temperature changes. Thermal expansion can
affect bridges with either expanding or contracting the bridge. Thus, to provide
flexibility of the bridge, expansion joints fill gaps between them to help it adapt to
temperature changes without distorting.

There are three general types of thermal expansion: linear, area and volume.
Linear expansion is basically the increase in length of a material in relation to the
increase of the temperature of the material. On the other hand, area thermal
expansion, objects expand in all dimensions. That is, their areas and volumes, as
well as their lengths, increase with temperature. Lastly, in volume thermal
expansion, substances expand or contract when their temperature changes, with
expansion or contraction occurring in all directions.

The experiment focuses on the linear expansion. Linear expansion means

change in one direction (length) unlike that of area which is two dimensional and
volume which is three dimensional expansions. As the temperature increases, L
increases. L is not only proportional to the temperature; it is also proportional to
the length. To a first approximation, the change in length measurements of an
object due to thermal expansion is related to temperature change by a “linear
expansion coefficient”. It is the fractional change in length per degree of
temperature change. Linear expansion is the product of this coefficient of linear
expansion, the initial length and the change in temperature.

The experiment aims to determine the coefficient of linear expansion of a

metal rod. In this case, the metal rods used are made up of aluminium for the first
trial and copper for the second trial. It also aims to verify the dependence of a
body’s change in length to its change in temperature. In this case, both the
aluminium tube and copper tube increased in length as the temperature rises. Such
conclusion will be discussed further in the latter parts. Lastly, the experiment aims
to verify the dependence of a body’s change in length to the kind of material. Such
difference could be observed because materials have different coefficients of linear
expansion due to the fact that the depth and width of the wells within their
potential energy curves are oriented differently depending on the material. Further
discussions would be found in the latter pages.

To attain such objectives, different material and equipment should be used in

the experiment. Such include an aluminium metal tube and a copper metal tube, to
be used in the first and second trials and the main object to be observed for the
linear thermal expansion. A meter stick is used to determine the initial length, of
the tube. A digital multi-tester, is also needed as this will be used to determine the
ohms unit which has a corresponding temperature in the expansion base. The
expansion base with built-in gauge and thermistor is the used to determine such
resistance and temperature. Other materials include foam insulator, rubber tubing
and steam generator although some of them were given alternatives or are already
combined with one another thus minimum set up is needed to be done by the
experimenter.
 The computations for the experiment were based on the equations given in
the procedures. Such were introduced in the following statements. Consider a rod
of initial length L0 at initial temperature T0. When the temperature of the rod is
increased to its final temperature T, the corresponding final length L is greater than
the initial length. The change in length L is the difference of the final length from
its initial length as in Equation 1.

(eqn. 1)

If the change in temperature is less than 100 C°, the change in length is
directly proportional to both the change in temperature and the initial length
of the rod or tube. The proportionality constant, known as the coefficient of linear
expansion α , depends on the material. These relationships are shown in Equation
2.

(eqn. 2)

The first thing that should be done is to gather all the equipment and
materials needed and made sure that none of it is damaged. For the first trial,
measure the initial length of the tube, in this case, aluminium tube from the inner
edge of the stainless steel pin to the inner edge of the angle bracket at the other end
of the tube, as described in the procedure. For the second trial, measure the initial
length of the copper tube. Such measurement should be recorded and will then be
the basis and be recorded as the initial length in finding the change in length of the
metal tube. The next would be mounting the tube in the expansion base. Take note
that the stainless steel pin on the tube fits into the slot of the slotted mounting
block and the bracket on tube presses against the spring arm of the dial gauge,
otherwise, there might be a discrepancy in the result. Next, attach the thermistor
lug to the threaded hole in the middle of the tube using a thumb screw to ensure
maximum contact between the lug and the tube, the lug should be aligned along the
tube. Them, place the foam insulator over the thermistor lug. Such mentioned in
the procedure are already prepared by the laboratory assistants thus proceed to the
next step. Plug the leads of the ohmmeter into the banana plug connector of the
thermistor located in the center of the expansion base. This will then give way for
the multi-tester to identify the resistance of the thermistor in ohms present in the
flow of water and water vapour in the tube which will then give the equivalent
temperature of the tube to be seen in the expansion base. This will then serve as the
initial temperature.

The next part of the experiment would be setting the dial gauge reading to
zero. But before this, it is important to take note that the expansion base should be
inclined to avoid the water or vapour pressure to come back and forth inside the
tube. If this happens, the reading of the resistance and determining the temperature
might be inaccurate and imprecise. The condensed water should drain out and there
should be a container under the lower end of the tube to catch the draining water.
Next, attach a rubber tube from the steam generator to the end of the tube farthest
from the dial gauge. But it is also important to take note that the tube mustn’t be
loose at both ends because this will greatly affect the process of the experiment.
Then, turn on the steam generator. Although this is the procedure what we did is to
put water inside the steam generator to about ¾ of it then turn it already while we
are setting up the experiment. After this, keep watch on the dial gauge because this
will help determine the length increased. One full turn of the arrow in the dial
gauge equivalents to one millimetre added to the tube. Thus, it is important to take
note of the number of turns happen in the dial gauge. Simultaneously, use the
multi-tester and determine the resistance of the thermistor R. This resistance could
then be found in the expansion base with its equivalent final temperature. Such
should be recorded as this will be later on used in the computations. The change in
temperature could then be computed by finding the difference between the final
temperature and the initial temperature. The actual coefficient of linear expansion
for aluminium and copper is then provided in Table 1. The experimental
coefficient of linear expansion , on the other hand, is by using Equation 2.

Material Coefficient of linear expansion (C°)-1

Aluminum 23.80 x 10-6
Brass 19.30 x 10-6
Copper 16.80 x 10-6
Glass 8.97 x 10-6
Gold 14.30 x 10-6
Iron 11.40 x 10-6
Lead 29.40 x 10-6
Nickel 13.00 x 10-6
Platinum 8.99 x 10-6
Silver 18.80 x 10-6
Steel 12.00 x 10-6
Tin 26.92 x 10-6
Zinc 26.28 x 10-6
Table 1. Coefficient of Linear Expansion of Solids

Lastly, percentage error is to be determined. Percentage Error is important as

this determines whether the result of the experiment is accurate, meaning, near to
the true value which in this case if the actual coefficient of linear expansion. This
adds up to the validity of the trial as this determines whether the certain trial can be
used.

The table in the data sheet depicts the determined and computed values in
the experiment for both trials. With proper technique, the initial length of the tube,
was determined with the use of a meter stick. It would then be converted into
mm thus giving the values for both the aluminium and copper tube’s initial length
to be 705 mm. The initial resistance of thermistor at room temperature was then
determined using the multi-tester. The first trial, using the aluminium tube, gave a
value of 108.44 kΩ which when converted gives the value 108 440 Ω. By using the
copper tube in the second trial, on the other hand, gave the value 101.40 kΩ
equivalent to 101 400 Ω. Such resistance values would then be used in determining
the initial temperature. This temperature could be found in the expansion base
where there is a written equivalent temperature for the resistance. Through this, the
initial temperature of thermistor for Trial 1, with the resistance of 108 440 Ω, is 23
°C. On the other hand, the second trial with resistance of 101 400 Ω gives an initial
temperature of 25 °C.

With the connection of the steam generator to the tube in the expansion base,
change in length, was then determined for both trials by looking at the dial
gauge when steam comes out of the tube. During the first trial, the arrow on the
dial gauge turned counter clockwise. This means that the metal undergone
expansion. The arrow stopped at around 0.900 mm thus the value of change in
length of tube, . The second trial, on the other hand, stopped at 0.635 mm, thus
the value. Simultaneously, the resistance of thermistor at final temperature was
then determined using the multi-tester and gave values 9 820 Ω and 8 760 Ω,
respectively for Trials 1 and 2. Like in determining the initial temperature, the final
temperature was determined by looking for the equivalent temperature of the
resistance located in the expansion base. Thus, giving the values 77 °C and 79 °C,
respectively. Change in temperature of the tube was then computed by subtracting
the initial temperature, from the final temperature, as observed in Equation 3.
Thus, showing the final temperature for both trials to be 54 °C.

(eqn. 3)

Trial 1:

Trial 2:

For the computation of the Experimental Coefficient of Linear

Expansion, experimental, with the derivation of Equation 2 by separating the
coefficient with the equation as seen in Equation 4. The experimental coefficients
were the computed to be 2.3641 x 10-5 and 1.6680 x 10-5, respectively for Trials 1
and 2.

(eqn. 2)
 (eqn. 4)

Trial 1:

Trial 2:

Lastly, percentage error is then computed by subtracting the actual value of

the coefficient of linear expnasion and its experimental value and dividing the
difference by the actual value to be multiplied by 100 as seen in Equatioon 5.
Percentage Error is important as this determines whether the result of the
experiment is accurate, meaning, near to the true value which in this case if the
actual coefficient of linear expansion. This adds up to the validity of the trial as
this determines whether the certain trial can be used.
 (eqn. 5)

Trial 1:

Trial 2:

From the results in the data sheet, it could be seen that the percent difference
is only 0.6690% for the first trial, in the case of aluminium tube while the second
trial is 0.7143%. Such small discrepancies proves that the trials are valid and
accurate since the experimental values are near that actual values located in Table
1 for the coefficient of linear expansion. This is because proper laboratory
techniques were done in the experiment and only a few errors were committed.
Such errors might have been caused by the room temperature of the laboratory
room such that it is an air-conditioned room thus might have affected the metals
used in the experiment, aluminium and copper. Other errors might be wrong
reading of the initial length of the metal tube and that of the dial gauge.
Conclusion

When materials are introduced to a change of temperature, there exists

thermal expansion or the idea that a material can change in shape/area/volume in
response to a change in temperature. There exist three general types of thermal
expansion: linear, area and volume. Linear expansion is basically the increase in
length of a material in relation to the increase of the temperature of the material.
On the other hand, area thermal expansion, objects expand in all dimensions. That
is, their areas and volumes, as well as their lengths, increase with temperature.
Lastly, in volume thermal expansion, substances expand or contract when their
temperature changes, with expansion or contraction occurring in all directions. The
experiment focuses on the linear thermal expansion in the case of metal tubes,
made of aluminium and copper.

Different material and equipment should be used in the experiment. Such

include an aluminium metal tube and a copper metal tube, to be used in the first
and second trials and the main object to be observed for the linear thermal
expansion. A meter stick is used to determine the initial length, of the tube. A
digital multi-tester, is also needed as this will be used to determine the ohms unit
which has a corresponding temperature in the expansion base. The expansion base
with built-in gauge and thermistor is the used to determine such resistance and
temperature. Other materials include foam insulator, rubber tubing and steam
generator although some of them were given alternatives or are already combined
with one another thus minimum set up is needed to be done by the experimenter.

In doing such experiment, many laboratory techniques should be taken into

account to avoid a large percent error. There should be proper reading of the initial
length using the meter stick and the final length using the dial gauge. The tube
should be properly connected with the steam generator and the tube in the
expansion base. The expansion base should be inclined for the condensed water to
not go back and forth the tube. The dial gauge should be placed at 0 mm before the
start of the process. The atmosphere should also be in room temperature while the
experiment is being done. The percent error for the experiment was only 0.6690%
for the first trial, in the case of aluminium tube while the second trial is 0.7143%.
Such small discrepancies proves that the trials are valid and accurate since the
experimental values are near that actual values located in Table 1 for the
coefficient of linear expansion. This is because proper laboratory techniques were
done in the experiment and only a few errors were committed.

The experiment just answers its objectives and shows how to compute for

the coefficient of linear expansion of a metal rod given the equation:

(eqn. 4) . It also shows that the body’s change in length is dependent on its change
in temperature, thus showing thermal expansion. It could be observed with the
sudden change in length of the metal tubes when heat was presented to them
through the steam generator. Lastly, its shows that the body’s change in length is
dependent to the kind of material such that as seen in the experiment, there are
different results for Trial 1, wherein an aluminum metal tube was used and for
Trial 2 wherein a copper metal tube was used.