Practice Problems
Thermal Expansion
Topics:
On this worksheet you will investigate properties of
thermal expansion
of common solids. The following table shows a listing of coefficients of linear expansion for some common materials.
Page Directions
The numerical values in this worksheet are randomly generated allowing students the opportunity to conveniently practice, and drill, common situations.
Before beginning any given worksheet, please look over all of the questions and make sure that there are
no duplicate
answers shown for the same question. If duplicates are present simply refresh the page until every answer is unique.
In order to check an answer
(even when you are just starting the worksheet on Question 1)
it is necessary to
any questions that you have not answered. Once you start submitting answers, the page may be checked as many times as necesasary without changing the randomized answers. Relevant scoring will be provided at the top of the page only when you answer all of the questions on your original submission.
omit
Question 1
Which graph exhibits the behavior of the material having the greater cofficient of linear expansion?
purple
green
omit
Question 2
A copper bar changes in length by 1 meters with a 150 degree Celsius change in temperature. What is the bar’s original length?
1.5 x 10
2
meters
2.48 x 10
-3
meters
2.48 x 10
-3
meters
4.04 x 10
2
meters
omit
Question 3
A brass washer has a circumference of 15 cm at 15ºC, by how much will its diameter increase when the temperature reaches a maximum value of 33ºC.
8.12 x 10
-4
cm
9.36 x 10
-3
cm
5.1 x 10
-3
cm
1.62 x 10
-3
cm
omit
Question 4
Red-hot steel rivets were often used to hold multiple pieces of metal
together securely
. Suppose a rivet heated to 548ºC is placed through three carefully-aligned 0.4136-cm diameter holes to join three metal plates having a total thicknes of 0.5061 cm. After the riveter hammers the unformed end to close the joint, what will be the length of the rivet's shaft when it has cooled down to 18ºC?
rivets
riveted steel beam
0.5032 cm
0.5096 cm
0.4107 cm
0.5026 cm
omit
Question 5
Many architects integrate glass curtain-walls into their new building designs. During construction, contractors must account for the thermal expansion and contraction of these glass elements so that they will not crack during the building's lifetime. Suppose the contract calls for glass elements that measure 4.674-meter by 13.529-meters. If the average temperature in the area is 12.5ºC and the glass with be exposed to a temperature range of -23ºC to 48ºC, by how much will the glass surface area fluctuate?
+/- 1.099 x 10
-2
m
2
+/- 5.493 x 10
-3
m
2
+/- 6.316 x 10
1
m
2
+/- 7.632 x 10
-2
m
2
PhysicsLAB
Copyright © 1997-2025
Catharine H. Colwell
All rights reserved.
Application Programmer
Mark Acton