ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENT NO.

105: LINEAR EXPANSION

When heat is added to most materials, solid, liquid or gas, the

average amplitude of the atoms vibration within the material increases.

This, in turn, increases the separation between the atoms causing the

material to expand. If the temperature change is such that the material

does not go through a phase change, then it can be shown that the change

in the object's length.

According to the Kinetic Theory of Matter, the expansion is due to the

increased amplitude of vibration of the particles. According to this theory,

the temperature of a body is a measure of the average kinetic energy of it

particles. The theory also attempts to explain the differences between

solids, liquids and gases. In solid the particles in solids vibrate around fixed

positions. As a result of their relatively small amplitudes of oscillation, the

particles remain close together and so attract each other strongly. This

explains why solids maintain their shape. Most solids, when heated, will

eventually become liquid. The particles in liquids are more energetic than

those in solids.

A theory of the thermodynamic behavior of matter, especially the

relationships among pressure, volume, and temperature in gases, based

on the dependence of temperature on the kinetic energy of the rapidly

moving particles of a substance. The theory uses statistical mechanics

under the presumption that energy and momentum are conserved in all

collisions between particles. The particles of matter experience forces of

attraction amongst themselves. These attractive forces decrease rapidly

with increasing distance between the particles.

Particles in solids are very close to each other, and the attractive

forces are large enough to hold the particles in fixed positions. Thus, a solid

has a fixed shape and a fixed size (volume).The particles of liquids are a

little further apart and are free to slide and flow, taking the shape of the

container. Thus, a liquid has no fixed shape. However, since the particle

movement is restricted to within the space occupied by the liquid, a liquid

does have a fixed size (volume).

The separations between particles of a gas are quite large, resulting

in complete freedom of motion. Hence, a gas has neither fixed shape nor

fixed size (volume), and tends to expand to fill up the entire volume of its

container. Because the particles are in motion, they possess kinetic energy.

The temperature of matter is a measure of the average kinetic energy

possessed by the particles. When heat is applied to matter, it gets

absorbed and translated to increased kinetic energy of the particles (which

means greater motion), resulting in a rise in temperature.

The particles are still quite close together but now have amplitudes of

oscillation just great enough to allow them to "change places" with each

other. This explains why liquids can flow. The particles of gases (usually

molecules) have been given enough energy to allow them to break free of

the bonds binding them together. The average distance between particles

is typically 10 times greater (at normal atmospheric pressure) than in solids

and liquids. The particles now move freely at random, occupying all the

space available to them.

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 Degree

Celsius, materials in general expand when the temperature increases and

contract when the temperature decreases. The change in dimension could

be one dimensional called the linear expansion, it may be two dimensional

which is expansion of area or three dimensional which known as volume

expansion.