Experiment No.

301: Linear Expansion

Raagas, Michelle Mae G.
School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
Mapua Institute of Technology, 658 Muralla St., Intramuros, Manila City, Philippines
michellemaeraagas@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE
This experiment focuses mainly on the concept of
linear expansion which is an object changes its
length with respect to the force applied to it or due
to the change in temperature. To determine the
metal rods coefficient of linear expansion is the
goal of the experiment. In addition, the factors that
affect linear expansion are also considered.

For the first part of the experiment, the length of the

rod were measured and noted as the initial length. It
is done by measuring the rod from the inner edge
pin to the inner edge angle bracket. Then it is placed
on the expansion base with built-in gauge and
thermistor, making it sure it perfectly fits.

METHODOLOGY
We used several material which plays a big role in
order for our experiment to be successful.

Fig.2. One of my group mates setting up the materials.

Then put an enough water inside the heat generator,

plug the generator fo it to start heating and then
connect the digital multitester to the rod.

Fig.1. All the materials used in the experiment (aluminum

metal tube, copper metal tube, digital multi-tester, meter stick,
1 set expansion base with built-in gauge and thermistor,
rubber tubing, and steam generator)

Before we start, since the spot of our group is at the

center of the room which is airconditioned, one of
my group mates suggested that we should perform
the experiment at the corner of the room to lower
the temperature because it is one of the factors that
may affect our experiment and to encounter less
errors.

Fig.3. Waiting for the steam generator to produce vapor while

inputing some values on the excel.

After all, check the steam generator if it started to

produce vapor, if so, connect the rubber tube on the
top of the generator to the end of the rod. Be careful
on this part of the experiment, make sure the boiling

water would not spill on someone. Observe the

change in the thermistor and the digital multi-tester
once the steam enters the rod and notice when will
it stop and record the value. Same thing will be
done on the other rod. After getting all the
unknowns, linear expansion coefficients can now be
solved.

successful. The coefficient can be solved as seen

from below.

DATA and SAMPLE COMPUTATIONS

For Aluminun tube:

Type of Tube
Initial Length of
Tube (mm)
Initial resistance of
Thermistor at
Room Temp
(ohms)
Initial
Temperature ()
Change in Length
of Tube (mm)
Resistance of
Thermistor at
Final Temperature
(ohms)
Final Temperature
of the Tube ()
Change in
temperature of the
tube ( )
Experimental
Coefficient of
Linear Expansion
(/)
Actual Coefficient
of Linear
Expansion (/)
Percentage of error
(%)

Aluminum
tube

Copper
tube

705

705

=
=

!
!"#!$%&!'()* !"#$!%
!"#$!%

!"#$!% = 0.0000238/
= 1.12
! = 705
= 48

84.9

85

28

28

1.12

0.84

1.12
705 48

= 0.0000330969/
% =

0.0000330969/ 0.0000238/
0.0000238/
= 39.06%

For Copper tube:

12.32

9.73

76

83

!"#$!% = 0.0000168/
= 0.84
! = 705

48

55

= 55
=

0.0000330969 0.0000216634
0.0000238

0.0000168

39.06

49.04

Table1. all the data gathered and solve in the experiment

These are the results gathered by performing the

experiment. We aim to compute the Actual
Coefficient of linear Expansion, it must be close to
the actual value to prove that our experiment was

0.84
705 55

= 0.0000216634/
% =

0.0000216634/ 0.0000168/
0.0000168/
= 49.04%

GRAPH

This experiment is very interesting for me since this

topic relates on my field of study. Overall, the
experiment was successful for we are able to apply
the concept of linear expansion on it

Temperature vs. Length

100 t( )
80
60

aluminum

40

copper

20
0 705 706 707 708 L(mm)
Graph1. Representation of temperature vs. length of aluminum
and copper

ANALYSIS OF DATA
Based on the gathered data, we observed that as the
temperature increases, the length also increases. The
value gotten from the thermistor is the change in
length of the rod, the value is so small but the
thermistor can get it, though even the slightest
movement can actually affect it. Since the room is
air-conditioned the percentage error of our
experiment is way too high compared to the
preffered error because temperature is the one factor
that affect linear expansion. Instead of getting the
steam point that are usually 100, we obtain the
value of 76 and 83.

CONCLUSION
Change in dimension are normally occurred when a
solid is exposed to heat or cold. In this experiment,
we only observed the change in length. The two
objective of the experiment was attained. The first
one is to determine the metal rods coefficient of
linear expansion which is obtained by computing
using the gathered data on the experiment.
Furthermore, throughout out the experiment, we are
able to determine the factors that affects linear
expansion.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to our
professor Sir Ricardo De Leon for guiding us to
have better understanding through out the
experiment, for giving us a good explanation on
how this experiment can actually be done, and for
giving us some tips on the possible errors that we
will encounter. Also, I would like to thank my
group mates for being cooperative. Lastly, I would
like to thank the two lab assistant in the physics
department for assisting us what to do and how
to do properly the laboratory equipments.

REFERENCES
[1] Blundell, S., Concepts of Thermal Physics, 2006
[2] Halliday, F., Fundamentals Of Physics, 9th
Edition, 2011