MAPUA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Physics

E301: LINEAR EXPANSION

DE GUZMAN, Anne K.
2013150302 BSChE-2 Group 2
PHY12L-A4

SCORE:
Analysis
Conclusion
Presentation
TOTAL

Engr. Ericson D. Dimaunahan

Instructor
July 30, 2015

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ANALYSIS
The only difficulty our group encountered in the experiment was obtaining the smallest
percentage error as possible. The cold temperature of the room which made the metal
cool faster than it does in normal temperature was the biggest percentage error
contributor.
In definition, linear expansion is an object's change in length due to the increase in
temperature, and in this experiment, the linear expansion coefficients of the rods used
were determined. The factors that affect linear expansion were also considered as well
as how it can affect the experiment.
A steam generator was used to produce heat and was connected to the rods by a rubber
tube. The temperature were determined by the digital multi-tester and the expansion
base set with micro-meter gauge and thermistor.
Initially, the metal tubes were measured initially from the inner edge pin to the inner
edge of the bracket at the other edge of the tube using the meter stick.
For the first trial, the aluminum tube was attached to the expansion base. The initial
temperature was measured using the ohmmeter attached to the thermistor located in
the center of the expansion base. The resistance measured was converted to
temperature using the conversion table provided on the expansion base. The same
procedure was done for the determination of coefficient of linear expansion of copper
tube.
Trial
Type of Tube
Initial Length of Tube,
Initial Temperature,

Trial 1.
Aluminum Tube

Trial 2.
Copper Tube

702 mm

700 mm

24.4167 C

25.08785 C

1.2 mm

0.86 mm

Lo

t rm

Change in Length of Tube,

Final temperature of the Tube, thot

71.08411 C
Change in Temperature of the Tube, (thot
trm)
46.62241 C
Experimental
Coefficient
of
Linear
Expansion, experimental
3.76 x 10-5 /C
Actual Coefficient of Linear Expansion,
actual
28.80 x 10-6/C

79.092 C
51.00415 C
2.275 x 10-5/C
16.80 x 10-6/C

After recording the initial temperature, the dial gauge was set to zero and the rubber
tube was connected to the end of the metal tube to let the water from the steam
generator pass through. The expansion bases end was raised for the smooth flow of
water and to avoid steam condensation. The condensed water inside the tube would
absorb heat from the steam and will lead to error in temperature measurement. The
steam entering the tube causes the pointer in the dial gauge to rotate in which one
complete revolution is equal to 1 mm of expansion. The resistance recorded was
converted and taken as the final temperature.
Aluminum and copper tube have a certain initial length which was one factor in solving
linear expansion coefficient. Change in length is dependent on this initial length. These
two are directly proportional to each other. As the temperature of the tube changes by
means of the steam generator, the tube also alters. The amount of change in
temperature should be addressed. If the change in temperature was not large enough,
less than 100 C, it is directly proportional to change in length (Sears, 2012).
Since both aluminum and copper has less than 100 C change in temperature; 43 and 45
C, the relationship of change in temperature and length is appropriate for solving
unknown value.
The proportionality of the factors produces an equation:
L= Lo T

(Equation 1)

is the coefficient of linear expansion which demonstrates the change in length due to
temperature change. It is the unknown value in this experiment.
Rearranging the equation, coefficient of linear expansion can be solved using the
equation
=

L
Lo T

As seen from the table, the greater change in length obtained by the aluminum tube with
the value 1.2 mm as compared with the 0.8 mm expansion of the copper tube. This
coincides with the equation in which the change in length is proportional to the
coefficient of linear expansion as well as the initial length and change in temperature,
and in this case, greater coefficient of linear expansion lead to the greater change in
length.

CONCLUSION
Thermal expansion is the tendency of an object to expand and become larger due to the
increase in the objects temperature.
An objects expansion depends upon three factors. Firstly, it is proportional to the
objects original length. When two objects with different initial lengths are equally
heated, the object with greater initial length will have a greater increase in length
compared to the shorter one. Secondly, the increase in length is proportional to the
increase in the temperature the object undergoes. And lastly, the increase in length is
dependent to the kind of material an object is composed of.
Based from the experiment, aluminum achieved a greater change in length than copper,
this is due to its greater coefficient of expansion. Experimentally, the computed
coefficients are 3.93 x 10-5 /C and 2.50 x 10-5/C for aluminum and copper respectively.
In comparison with the actual coefficient value, we obtained 51.04 % error for aluminum
and 35.414 % for copper. The large percent error was majorly because of the cold
temperature in the classroom. As mentioned earlier, the cold temperature of the room
made the metal cool faster than it does in normal temperature. Another one is the
measurement of the change in length using the number of revolutions made by the dial
gauge and the measurement of the temperature using the digital multi-tester. Inaccurate
reading leads to high percentage error.