[go: up one dir, main page]
Scribd
Upload
132 views3 pages

Thermal Expansion

Thermal expansion refers to the fractional change in size of materials due to temperature changes. For most materials over small temperature ranges, the fractional changes in length, area, and volume are directly proportional to the temperature change and have the same sign (expand when heated, contract when cooled). A coefficient of thermal expansion quantifies the ratio of fractional size change to temperature change. For solids, the linear coefficient α is used, while the volumetric coefficient β is used for liquids.

Uploaded by

Senang Orang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
132 views3 pages

Thermal Expansion

Thermal expansion refers to the fractional change in size of materials due to temperature changes. For most materials over small temperature ranges, the fractional changes in length, area, and volume are directly proportional to the temperature change and have the same sign (expand when heated, contract when cooled). A coefficient of thermal expansion quantifies the ratio of fractional size change to temperature change. For solids, the linear coefficient α is used, while the volumetric coefficient β is used for liquids.

Uploaded by

Senang Orang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

 Thermal expansion refers to a fractional

change in size of a material in response to a


change in temperature.
 This includes…
o changes in length compared to original
length (Δℓ/ℓ ) called linear expansion
0

o changes in area compared to original area


(ΔA/A ) called areal expansion or superficial
0

expansion
o changes in volume compared to original
volume (ΔV/V ) called volumetric
0

expansion or cubical expansion
 For most materials, over small temperature
ranges, these fractional changes…
o are directly proportional to temperature
change (ΔT) and
o have the same sign (i.e., materials usually
expand when heated and contract when
cooled)
o are larger for liquids than solids
 A coefficient of thermal expansion…
o is the ratio of the fractional change in size
of a material to its change in temperature
o is represented by the symbol α (alpha) for
solids and β (beta) for liquids
o uses the SI unit inverse kelvin (K  or 1/K) or
−1

the equivalent acceptable non SI unitinverse


degree Celsius (℃  or 1/℃).
−1

 Solids…
o tend to retain their shape when not
constrained and so are best described by a
linear coefficient of thermal
expansion, α (alpha).
o have an areal expansion that is very nearly
twice their linear expansion, 2α (since two
perpendicular linear measurements describe
an area)
o have a volumetric expansion that is very
nearly three times their linear
expansion, 3α(since three perpendicular linear
measurements describe a volume)
 Liquids…
o tend to take on the shape of their container
and so are best described by a volumetric
coefficient of thermal expansion, β (beta).
 Gases…
o have a thermal expansion that is best
described using the ideal gas law
described laterin this book.
equation solids
Δℓ  =  ℓ αΔT linear expansion
0

Δ A 2αΔ
 =  areal (or superficial) expansion
A 0T
Δ V 3αΔ
 =  volumetric (or cubical) expansion
V 0T
equation liquids
Δ V
 =  βΔT volumetric (or cubical) expansion
V 0

equation gases
P ideal gas law (We are not going to
 =  nRT
V use this)
Equations of thermal expansion

You might also like