Analysis

Thermal expansion refers to the fractional change in the size of materials in

response to change in temperature whether to increase or decrease. These change in

temperature can affect the physical properties of a material. Change in length refers

to linear expansion change in area is called areal expansion, and changes in volume

are termed as volumetric expansion or sometimes called as cubical expansion. For

most materials, the temperature change is directly proportional to fractional change.

For example, the hotter the object rises in temperature, the bigger the fractional

change is. Fractional changes are mostly larger for liquids compared to solids. Each

material has its respective coefficient of thermal expansion. It is the ratio of the

fractional change in the size of the material in relation to the change in temperature.

For solids, it is represented by the symbol alpha and beta for liquids.

Its unit can be inverse Kelvin or inverse degree Celsius. Different states of

matter react differently to changes in temperature. For solids, they tend to retain their

shape when not constrained that is why their linear coefficient is best described as

thermal expansion using the alpha symbol. It also has an aerial expansion that is

nearly twice and volumetric expansion that is nearly thrice to its linear expansion.

Liquids, on the other hand, tend to take the shape of its container and can best be
explained using volumetric expansion. Gases do not always have a container and

therefore can move freely. Its expansion can best be described using the ideal gas

law.

Because of thermal expansion, bridges are built with metal expansion joints

in order to accommodate changes in length and volume without damaging the

cement that is holding the structure together. One great application of thermal

expansion is in thermometers. Thermometers have glass tube sealed at both ends and

is partly filled with liquid mercury or alcohol. As the temperature around the tip of

the thermometer rises, the liquid rises in the glass tube and can be recorded with the

scale placed on its glass walls. Thermal expansion commonly decreases with

increasing bond energy, which explains why solids with a high melting point are

more likely to have lower thermal expansion.

In this experiment, we used the formula of linear expansion to solve for the

changes in the length of both the aluminum and copper tube.

Δℓ = ℓ0 αΔT linear expansion

 Using this equation, we can isolate the alpha and compute for the coefficient

of linear expansion and come up with this.

𝛥𝑙
𝛼=
𝑙0 𝛥𝑇

When we combine the two equation, we can compute for the final length of

the material

𝑙𝑓 = 𝑙0 + 𝑙0 ∝ 𝛥𝑇

Table 1

Trial 1 Aluminum Tube Trial 2 Copper Tube

Initial length 701.04 mm 701.04 mm
Initial Resistance 87,022 ohms 83,124 ohms
Initial Temperature 28 degree Celcius 29 degree-Celcius
Change in length 0.5 mm 0.53 mm
Resistance at final temperature 26,409 ohms 12,479 ohms
final temperature 56 degree-Celcius 76 degree-Celcius
Temparature change 28-degree-Celcius 47 degree Celcius
Experimental value of coefficient25.47 x 10^-6 16.08 x 10^-6
Actual Value of coefficient 23.80 x 10^-6 16.90 x 10^-6
percent difference 6.7882 4.3452
 Table 1 shows the data we gathered for this experiment. The two metal tubes

started the same length at 701.04 mm. At room temperature and 1 atmospheric

pressure, they show different resistance which is normal for the both of them. The

reason why the copper tube is a bit longer is it stayed longer in the expansion base

compare to the aluminum tube.

Based on the data gathered and computed, the percent difference is low and

acceptable being 6.78% for the aluminum tube and 4.34% for the copper tube.

Comparing the actual coefficient of the two materials, I found out that the

experimental coefficient of the aluminum is greater compared to the actual

coefficient of the copper tube. This is also true if you compare their actual coefficient

of linear expansion. This is probably because copper is much denser compare to

aluminum and it also has a higher boiling point of 2562-degree Celsius compare to

660-degree Celsius.
Conclusion

The objective of the experiment to find and compute for the coefficient of

linear expansion is achieved using the equation for the linear expansion of solids.

Based on the data gathered, the coefficient of aluminum is higher compared

to the coefficient of linear expansion of copper. This means that the aluminum tube

increases more in length compared to the increase in the copper tube. This is because

Copper has a higher boiling point compared to that of the Aluminum.

The theory behind the linear expansion is proven by this experiment that the

change in length of materials is directly proportional to the change in temperature.

There are different factors that affect the linear expansion. These are the type

of material, initial length before changes in temperature, and temperature which

plays a big role in determining the final length of a certain material. Temperature is

directly proportional to the change in length of the tube. Increase in temperature

caused the material to increase in length while the decrease in temperature caused

the metal to contract. We let the tubes to cool after the experiment and measured it.

We found that it returned to its initial length after being exposed to a cold

environment which is the classroom.

 There are some recommendations I would like to suggest. First is to have a

definite time for how long the metal tube will stay on the expansion base. As the

metal continue to heat up, its resistance continues to drop and inaccuracy in this part

could sacrifice the accuracy of the computation. Next is to perform this experiment

in a room in which the temperature of surroundings does not change much.

Temperature plays an important role in this activity and inaccurate reading can affect

the data to be gathered.