21.1.

BI-METAL TEMPERATURE SENSORS

21.1

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Bi-metal temperature sensors

Solids tend to expand when heated. The amount that a solid sample will expand with increased
temperature depends on the size of the sample, the material it is made of, and the amount of
temperature rise. The following formula relates linear expansion to temperature change:
l = l0 (1 + T )
Where,
l = Length of material after heating
l0 = Original length of material
= Coefficient of linear expansion
T = Change in temperature
Here are some typical values of for common metals:
Aluminum = 25 106 per degree C
Copper = 16.6 106 per degree C
Iron = 12 106 per degree C
Tin = 20 106 per degree C
Titanium = 8.5 106 per degree C
As you can see, the values for are quite small. This means the amount of expansion (or
contraction) for modest temperature changes are almost too small to see unless the sample size (l0 )
is huge. We can readily see the effects of thermal expansion in structures such as bridges, where
expansion joints must be incorporated into the design to prevent serious problems due to changes
in ambient temperature. However, for a sample the size of your hand the change in length from a
cold day to a warm day will be microscopic.
One way to amplify the motion resulting from thermal expansion is to bond two strips of dissimilar
metals together, such as copper and iron. If we were to take two equally-sized strips of copper and
iron, lay them side-by-side, and then heat both of them to a higher temperature, we would see the
copper strip lengthen slightly more than the iron strip:

copper
Expansion

iron

If we bond these two strips of metal together, this differential growth will result in a bending
motion greatly exceeding the linear expansion. This device is called a bi-metal strip:

Bending

copper
iron