thermal expansion physics question?

G

greg p

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A rod made from a particular alloy is heated from 27.5°C to the boiling point of water. Its length increases by 8.61 10-4 m. The rod is then cooled from 27.5°C to the freezing point of water. By how much does the rod shrink?
 
First you use a sophisticated mathematical technique called "division" to find the change in length per degree so, considering that the rod changed from 27.5 to 100, it changed by (100 - 27.5)

8.61 * 10^-4 / (100 - 27.5) meters/degree

then, knowing the meters' per degree, it shrinks at that 'rate' for the 27.5 degrees when you cool it to 0 C.
 
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