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EXPERIMENT 7: THERMAL EXPANSION OF MATERIALS

OBJECTIVE 1. To measure the expansion of brass and steel when heated from room temperature to 100oC. 2. To determine the coefficient of linear expansion of brass and steel. THEORY 1. Materials expand on heating and contract on cooling. 2. The rate of expansion for different materials varies with materials to materials for the same change in temperature. 3. The following relation relates thermal expansion to the change in temperature: L = Lo T Where L is the change in length; Lo is the original length; T is the change in temperature; is the coefficient of linear expansion. 4. Since the length units of L and Lo algebraically cancel, the coefficient of linear expansion has the unit of oC-1 when the temperature difference T is expressed in Celsius degrees, oC. 5. Difference materials with the same initial length expand and contract by different amounts as the temperature changes, so the value depends on the nature of the material. 6. Coefficients of linear expansion also vary somewhat depending on the range of temperatures involved. APPARATUS Thermal Expansion Apparatus Steel Expansion Tube Cooper Expansion Tube Aluminium Expansion Tube Steam Generator Thermometer 1 1 1 1 1 2

PROCEDURE

Diagram 1 1. The equipment being setup as the diagram 1 shown above. 2. The steam generator being filled with water and being measured its temperature with a thermometer. 3. The steam generator being turned on. The water being heated to boil and waited until the condensed water and stream escape from the tube. 4. The pointer being watched until its stop moving. The value is being recorded as the expansion of the metal. 5. The temperature of the water coming out of the tube being measured. 6. The heater of the boiler is being turned off, being waited until the metal tube has cooled down, and the experiment being repeated by using other metal tubes. RESULTS 1. By using the equation; = L LoT we can calculated the coefficient, of linear expansion of the metal.

2. All the data gained in the experiment are being recorded in the Table 1 shown below; Metal Initial length, Lo (cm) Change of length, L (cm) Initial temperature, To (C) Changes of temperature, T (C) Coefficient of the metal, (experimental) Table 1 3. The percentage of the difference between the experimental and theoretical value can be measure using this formula; % difference = | experimental theoretical | x 100 % theoretical 4. The percentage of the difference between the experimental and theoretical value for steel is; % difference = 2.0 x 10-5 1.3 x 10-5 2.4 x 10-5 Steel Aluminium Brass

The percentage of the difference between the experimental and theoretical value for aluminium is; % difference = 5. The percentage of the difference between the experimental and theoretical value for copper is; % difference =

SOURCE OF ERROR(S) 1. Systemic errors Faulty equipments and some of the equipment have not been properly calibrated to fit the experiment. The meter pointer used has zeros errors.

2. Parallax errors Occurs due to our eyes are not perpendicular with the scale of the apparatus. The person who manages to read the data was not concern about the decimal places when taking the data and doing the calculations. The person who manages to read the value of the temperature at thermometer is not measure it while the water coming out of the tube but measure it when the steam is condensed into water in the beaker.

3. Random errors The change of length taken is not properly taken when the change of length maintain for a while. The temperature taken influenced by the temperature of the room (atmosphere) The person(s) who manage(s) the experiment accidentally touched the apparatus used for the experiment. MODIFICATIONS 1. Systemic errors Make sure that all the equipments that are going to be use are in good condition and have been properly calibrated to fit the experiment. Make sure to place the metal expansion tube at the right place so that the thermal expansion apparatus can give the accurate value of the changes of the length. Make sure the pointer located at the zero value before the experiment start. 2. Parallax errors Make sure that eyes positions are perpendicular to the reading of the measurement instruments. Take a suitable value for the decimal places in data reading for the calculations, so the data will be more accurate. Make sure the person who is handling to measure the value of the temperature at thermometer measure it while the water coming out of the tube not measure it when the steam is condensed into the water in the beaker. This is to avoid the error in the changes of temperature

INTERPRETATION 1. Based on the experiment, we found that when the coefficient of the metal is high, the value of the changes of its length is also high.

2. When the metal is heated in the oven, the metal will expands. Lets imagine we draw a circle on the sheet metal with a pencil. When the metal expands, the material inside the circle will expand along with the rest of the metal; so the circle expands. Cutting the metal where the circle is made clear to us that the hole grows as well, the materials does not expand inward to fill the hole. In a solid object, all section expands outward with increased temperature. 3. We also can understand thermal expansion from a microscopic point of view. Let us assume that the atoms in a solid are always in motion, vibrating about their equilibrium positions. We also assume that their average kinetic energy increases with the temperature. 4. As the temperature increases, this means that the average distance between atoms increases. So that, the length of the metal or the solid also increases. CONCLUSION Based on the experiment, we can conclude that if the coefficient of the metal increases, the changes of its length also increases. The aluminum has the highest coefficient of linear follows by copper and steel. The experiment is related to the theory.

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