Lab Course 103A-Section 006 Physics Laboratory Report
Lab number and Title:
LAB D: Linear Expansion Coefficient
Name:
Kris Edquilag
Group members:
Ernessa Francois, Andrew Rivera
Experiment Date :
Feburary 10, 2017
Instructor’s name:
Sizhan Liu
1. OBJECTIVES
To measure the coefficient of linear expansion for different metal rods.
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Linear dimensions (length and diameter) for most substances increase as the temperature increases in a
range that does not produce a change of phase. The added heat increases the vibrational kinetic energy of the
atoms in the material, which increases the distance between the atoms. To the first approximation, the increase
in a linear dimension ΔL is proportional to the increase in temperature ΔT and the initial dimension L
o
:
ΔL/L = αΔT
Where the proportionality
α
is the
coefficient of linear expansion.
This coefficient depends on many factors,
such as the composition and purity of the material, temperature, etc.
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- Spring '16
- Thermodynamics, Vector Space, Heat, Coefficient of thermal expansion, linear expansion
