Faculty of Engineering
Engineering Physics I (EBS 121)
Fall 2024-2025
Physics Staff
Sheet (8)
Thermal Expansion
1. The concrete sections of a certain superhighway are designed to have a length of
25 m. The sections are poured and cured at 10°C. Given that the concrete average linear
thermal expansion coefficient is 12x10-6 °C-1, What minimum spacing should the
engineer leave between the sections to eliminate buckling if the concrete is to reach a
temperature of 50°C?
2. A 1.32 x 104 meter steel railroad track with a coefficient of linear expansion of 12 x
10-6 per degree Celsius changes temperature from 27°C to 37°C. By how many meters
will the railroad tracks expand?
3. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is 352 meters tall, and is made primarily of iron, which has a
coefficient of linear expansion of 12 x 10-6. The average low in Paris is 1.00°C and the average
high is 24°C. What is average change in height the tower experiences each year?
4. An aluminum bar is 1.25 meters long at 20 degrees Celsius. The coefficient of linear
expansion is 25 × 10^-6 C-1. If the temperature is increased to 75 degrees Celsius, (a)
how much will the length of the bar change? (b) what is the new length of the bar at
this temperature?
5. Two concrete spans of a 250-m-long bridge are placed end to
end so that no room is allowed for expansion (As in figure a).
If a temperature increase of 20 °C occurs, what is the height
y to which the spans rise when they buckle (As in figure b)?
𝛼𝛼 = 12 x 10−6 C−1
6. At 20 C a steel ball (𝛼𝛼 =1.1 x 10^-5 /C ) has a diameter of 0.9 cm, while
a hole in an aluminum plate (𝛼𝛼 = 2.2 x 10^-5 /C) is 0.899 cm. At what temperature will the ball
just pass through the hole?
Faculty of Engineering
Engineering Physics I (EBS 121)
Fall 2024-2025
Physics Staff
7. A brass ring of diameter 10 cm at 20 C is heated and slipped over an Aluminum rod of
diameter 10.01 cm at 20 C. Asumming the average coef. Of linear expansion are constant
(𝛼𝛼Brass= 19×10-6 °C', 𝛼𝛼Al=24×10- 6 °C*), to what temperature must this combination be cooled
to separate them?
8. A solid plate of Lead (29 × 10^-6 C^-1) is 8cm x 12cm at 15C. What is the change in area if
the temperature increases to 95C?
9. A rectangular solid of Brass has a coefficient of volume expansion of 56 x 10^-6. The
dimensions of the rectangle are 5ft x 6ft x 8ft at 10C. What is the change in volume and the new
volume if the temperature increases to 90C?
10. A cup contains 85mL of water at 80C. What is the new volume at 15C? The coefficient
of volume expansion of water is 210 × 10^-6.
11. The average coefficient of volume expansion for carbon tetrachloride is 5.81×10–4
°C-1. If a 50.0 cm3 steel container is filled completely with carbon tetrachloride when the
temperature is 10.0°C.how much will spill over when the temperature rises to 30.0°C? [α
for steel= 11×10-6 C-1]
