SUMMARY

On this experiment, we followed the procedures accordingly. The initial

length that we measured for each material is starting from the inner edge of the
steel pin to the inner edge of the angle bracket at the other end of the tube. After
that, the tube was attached in the expansion base and the leads of the ohmmeter
was put into the banana plug. We recorded the resistance of the thermistor at
room temperature and noted it as R rm. Next, by regarding at the thermistor
temperature vs. resistance table below the expansion base, we determined the
L

equivalent temperature of the R rm. We observed the increase in length

by

referring to readings of built-in gauge and consecutively, the resistance of the

thermistor Rhot was also recorded. The equivalent final temperature of the tube t hot
was also acquired because it is also needed in the computation. We computed
for final temperature by interpolation and also obtained the final resistance of the
tubes as follows:
Aluminum Metal Tube

11, 770

77.63

Copper Metal Tube

10, 200

82.32

(Table 1: Resistivity of Materials Used and Final Temperature)

Conferring in the reference table located in the expansion base, I
perceived in this situation that as the value of resistance decreases, the
temperature increases. It shows inverse proportionality relationship between
them. The equation used in calculating for the linear expansion of an object with
thermal change is

L= Lo T . Analyzing the whole equation, the

is an

experimental expansion coefficient that is necessary to quantify expansion of a

material. On the other hand, the

T is the change in temperature and

Lo

is

the original length of the material before baring it to heat. When the metal tube is
being heated, it is expected to expand at minimal change in length. If a material

is subjected to thermal change, it may experience change in linear dimension

including its thickness and edges. In Table 1, it appears that the resistivity of
aluminum metal is higher than the value of the copper thats why the copper was
the one which got higher final temperature. Considering this observation, it only
shows that the resistivity of a material is directly proportional to the change in
length of the material applied by heat. As the resistivity of a material is high, the
change in length will also be great. At the end of the experiment, we computed
for the experimental values for the coefficient of linear expansion and obtained:
Aluminum Metal Tube
Copper Metal Tube

3.1384 X 10-5 /
2.0834 x 10-5 /

(Table 2: Experimental Coefficient of Linear Expansion)

Referring to Table 2, these coefficient of linear expansion were obtained

experimentally and we can observed that the aluminum metal tube is higher than
copper. Based from the theory, the linear coefficient of expansion is directly
proportional to the change in length so, if it increase, the change in length will
also increase, which was shown in the results of our data. On the other hand, the
change in temperature is inversely proportional to coefficient of linear expansion.
If the change in temperature has low value, coefficient of linear expansion will
have high value. Overall, these concepts were all applied and observed while
performing our experiment.

CONCLUSION

On this experiment, we have learned that Linear Expansion is a type of

thermal expansion in which the change in a material is just one dimensional with
respect to increase in temperature. As I mentioned in the latter part of my
summary, I can therefore say that we were able to satisfy the concepts of this
experiment. Though, what we obtained for coefficients were slightly different
compared to the actual coefficients, at the end of the experiment, we were still
able to determine the coefficients of linear expansion of the metal rods used and
the factors that affects the change in length in thermal expansion. As to mention,
the experiment gave us percent errors of 31.87 % for aluminum and 24.31 % for
copper.

Analyzing the equation used in this experiment which is

L= Lo T ,

we can see that the coefficient of linear expansion is directly proportional to the
change in length of the material which drawn me into a conclusion that the higher
the coefficient, the more the material will expand. Additionality, I also therefore,
conclude, that generally, the dimensions of a material increase as temperature
increase. Other factors that can be considered as main factors in determining
the change in length during thermal expansion are the initial length of the
material being observed and the change in temperature which were also found to
be proportional to the change in length. Errors in this experiment may arise
because of the following reasons: wrong measurements of the length, wrong
reading of the resistance of the tubes both in initial and heated phase, the
temperature of the surrounding, the accuracy of gauge readings, etc. Linear
expansion is occurring everywhere. Indeed, thermal expansion is one of the
important things that a civil engineering student like me must consider and study
very well. Bridges, railways, roads and other structures in the Philippines are
greatly exposed in heat during summer thats why they applies the principles of
thermal expansion.

Applying the theory that if a material is increased to its final temperature,

this means that the corresponding final length of the material will be greater than
the initial length. Thats why if observed keenly, railway tracks has a small gap
between adjacent rails because it allows space for expansion during summer.
Bridges however, have iron girders that is fixed in one end and some space is left
at the other end allowing the iron girder to expand in heat and thereby prevent
damage to the bridge. And for the concrete roads, a small gap is placed between
two slabs because if not followed, the concrete slabs would crack due to thermal
expansion. Another example that I could cite is when opening a tightly lid of a
bottle. When I am experiencing this situation, the first thing I would do is to pour
hot water on the lid. This one is effective because the lid undergoes thermal
expansion and becomes slightly loose, and then opens easily.